Philips Wouwerman
Stable Interior with Horsemen and Horses
Oil on canvas (relined). 50.5 x 70.5 cm.
Monogrammed lower left: PHiLSW (conjoined).
The present canvas, once housed in the important collection of C. J. K. van Aalst, belongs to a group of stable paintings by Philips Wouwermans (cf. ill. 1; Schumacher, op. cit., pp. 198-208). The scene depicted in these works is always a large stable painted in subtle shades of brown, with a high entrance, in this case on the left, affording a view of a landscape and blue sky in the background. Horses of differing breeds, elegant riders and grooms are arranged in a frieze-like manner across the picture plane. As is to be expected with Wouwerman, a white horse, here particularly emphasised by the red under the saddle, forms the centre of the composition.
Abb. 1 / Ill. 1: Philips Wouwerman, Ein Pferdestall / A Horse Stable, 1665-68, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum.
Provenance
Art dealer W. E. Duits, 1929 - Coll. J. K. van Aalst, Hoevelaken. - On permanent loan to the Centraal Museum, Utrecht, 1933-1940. - E. Heymann, Wassenaar, 1943 - H. W. Kölling, Ellecom. - Auctioned by P. Brandt, Amsterdam, 12.10.1954, lot 167. - Amsterdam private collection, 1958. - Austrian private collection.
Literature
J. W. von Moltke: Dutch and Flemish Old Masters in the Collection of Dr C. J. K. van Aalst, Huis-te-Hoevelaken, Holland, Verona 1939. - Centraal Museum Utrecht (ed.): Catalogus der Schilderijen (Catalogue of Paintings), Utrecht 1933, p. 200, no. 428. - Birgit Schumacher: Philips Wouwerman (1619-1668). The Horse Painter of the Golden Age, 2 vols., Doornspijk 2006, vol. 1, p. 207, no. A98, vol. 2, table 94.