Philips Wouwerman
REST DURING THE RETURN FROM THE HUNT
Oil on panel. 35,6 x 40,6 cm.
PHLS. W (PHLS joined).
In a landscape in the evening that is coloured in a warm light by the sun, huntsmen rest at an inn to take some refreshments. The inn with the maid and her children represent genre-like elements, but the protagonists of this painting are the huntsmen whom Wouwerman depicts in different positions, showing them en face, from the side and from behind, whereby he does not forget to place his hallmark, the white horse, in the centre of the composition. But the most important figure within the figural composition is the horseman in the right centre shown from behind. He is painted in bright colours and is depicted isolated from the other figures, so that his refined silhouette stands out against the gloomy sky.
Birgit Schumacher dates this painting to the second half of the 1650s, when Philips Wouwerman was at the height of his career, developing an individual style and succeeding on the art market. Schumacher has characterised this period with terms like "sovereignity" and "elegant refinement." In this painting, the elegant refinement can be seen in the brilliant palette, the artistic sovereignity in the bold invention of the central figure who turns his back towards the beholder.
Certificate
Walther Bernt, Munich, April 1977.
Provenance
Coll. Count E. de Pourtalès, Paris. - Theodore Emmerson and John Smith, London. - Sale, London, 19.5.1826, lot 84 (verso handwritten label). - Coll. Peter Norton. - P. & D. Colnaghi, London. - Charles Sedelmeyer, Paris, purchased on 27.1.1896 (verso seal). - Coll. Robert von Mendelssohn, Berlin, purchased on 12.3.1896. - By inheritage handed on the E. and Franz von Mendelssohn Trust. - Sotheby´s, London, 12.6.1968, lot 109 (acquired by Burus). - Christie´s, London, 26.11.1976, lot 41. - Richard Green, London. - Private collection, Germany.
Literature
Charles Sedelmeyer: Illustrated Catalouge of the Third Series of 100 Paintings by Old Masters, Paris 1896, no. 50, with ill. - Cornelis Hofstede de Groot: Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten holländischen Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts. 9 vols. Esslingen and Paris 1908, vol. 2, p. 452, no. 647. - Birgit Schumacher: Philips Wouwerman (1619-1668). The Horse Painter of the Golden Age. 2 vols. Doornspijk 2006, vol. 1, S. 250f, no. A201; vol. 2, ill. no. 189.
Exhibitions
Kaiser-Friedrich-Museumsverein, Berlin, 1906, no. 157 (verso label of the exhibition).