View of the Surroundings of Dendermonde, 1887

In the period 1886-1888, Albert Baertsoen regularly worked in the Dender region and in the Scheldt valley. He was attracted by landscape painters such as Isidoor Meyers and Jacques Rosseels who were active in this region. Although the painting was known for a long time as a view of the Scheldt, it actually shows the Dender, just before the river enters Dendermonde. There exists a postcard of that spot edited by Nels Brussels (series 51 num. 10). Hippolyte Fierens-Gevaert titled it in 1910: "FI.1887 Canal à Termonde". Baertsoen derived from their work a preference for tranquil landscapes, in which the subdued colouring creates a strong unity. Baertsoen made it at the age of barely 21. The painting ended up in the collection of the Ghent collector Fernand Scribe, with whom Baertsoen became friends around that time.