Sometimes it is not only the high-value paintings that demand attention. It can also be work that is beautiful in all its simplicity. One of these works is “The Man Peeling Potatoes”. This is a painting by E.C. van Son from 1905. Although the style reveals that he was a skilled painter, nothing is known to us about the creator. The man depicted is said to be gamekeeper Van der Valk. Given the year, three candidates qualify for this:
This father (Cornelis) and his sons (Engel and Johannes) were all three employed by the major landowner Quarles van Ufford. Cornelis van der Valck (indeed with ‘ck’) is unlikely; the man in the painting would have to be 81 years old. Johannes is perhaps too young, although he served as a gamekeeper for no less than 50 years. That leaves Engel, who was a gamekeeper from 1888. We do not know for certain. What remains is a beautiful painting with many unanswered questions.