Een beer overvalt een houthakker, genaamd 'Strijd op leven en dood'

Although one record associates the piece with an exhibition at the Salon of 1853, the established date of inception for this specific canvas remains 1874.

Charles Verlat created the oil painting on panel titled 'Een beer overvalt een houthakker, genaamd 'Strijd op leven en dood'' in 1874. The work entered the collection of Joannes Barnardus Antonius Maria Westerwoudt at some point in its history. It is currently held by the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands Art Collection and stored in the depot of the Rijksmuseum.

Although one record associates the piece with an exhibition at the Salon of 1853, the established date of inception for this specific canvas remains 1874.

The painting 'Strijd op leven en dood' is held in the Rijksmuseum's collection under the inventory of the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands Art Collection. It was created by Charles Verlat in 1874 and has been exhibited in the Salon of 1853.

The painting received limited contemporary attention, appearing in the 1853 Salon exhibition where it was noted for its dramatic narrative and technical execution. Scholarly analysis situates it within Verlat's genre scenes that blend Romantic storytelling with Realist detail, reflecting 19th-century Dutch artistic trends. Its composition draws from 19th-century literary themes of survival, aligning with broader European movements toward narrative painting. The work remains part of the Rijksmuseum's collection, underscoring its historical significance within Dutch art.

Charles Verlat’s 1874 oil painting, titled Een beer overvalt een houthakker, genaamd ‘Strijd op leven en dood’, captures a dramatic encounter between a bear and a lumberjack amid a dark forest. The scene is rendered in a realist style, emphasizing the physical tension of the struggle and the surrounding wilderness, and is part of the Rijksmuseum’s collection.