Gabriel van Schnell artwork • watercolour • drawing • for sale Portrait of a lady in a yellow and blue headdress

Little is known about Gabriel van Schnell. We know that he lived in Worthing, Sussex and that the portrait painted of him by Scottish Lady Ethel Walker is in the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa. That we know little about him is especially astonishing given the quality of his work. It consists of small sketches of grumpy landlords, dreamy compositions that reflect the radical freedom his contemporaries were exploring, and illustrated letters of friends who traveled the world. They offer an interesting insight into the mind of a seemingly eccentric and imaginative artist whose life remains a relative mystery.