Although born in Belgium in 1882, Bernard Pothast was the son of a well-known Dutch portrait painter. In his youth Bernard was encouraged to visit his father’s workshop where he learnt all the technical points of production. After he had finished school his father sent him to study the work of the Dutch Masters in museums and galleries. Eventually Bernard became a pupil at the Amsterdam Rijksakademie between 1904-1907, and was so successful he was awarded the Royal Bursary for study abroard, he chose Paris and spent a year at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Although successful in Paris he soon began to miss the atmosphere of Holland and returned to the circle of artists who were taking up the mantle of The Dutch Masters. The characters in Pothast’s paintings are imbued with virtue and a gentle strength. Bernard Pothast's poignant paintings of peasant life gained popularity during his lifetime and remain popular today. This signed oil on canvas shows Pothast’s great skill in capturing warm light built up in thick layers of impasto paint.