Lot 2050 Dα

Among the most popular subjects of the Haarlem painter Philips Wouwerman, who was already highly successful during his lifetime, are elegant hunting parties. These paintings usually do not show scenes of the hunt itself, but rather the preparation for or the return from a hunt. In the present, brilliantly executed small painting, it is the departure for a falcon hunt that Wouwerman presents in a close cropped view. His "trademark" white horse stands prominently in the foreground, an elegant lady with a falcon on her arm and a gentleman in a dark coat are already seated on horseback, while a third participant is waiting for a servant to saddle his horse.


We would like to thank Dr Birgit Schumacher, Berlin, for confirming this painting to be the artist's own work. She dates the piece to the early 1660s.