Horsepond on a River

c. 1662 - 1663

Object data

oil on panel

support: height 45.9 cm × width 64.2 cm
outer size: depth 4.2 cm (support incl. frame)

Inscriptions

signature, with monogram, bottom right (letters of first name ligated): PHils . W

Technical notes

Support The single, horizontally grained oak plank is approx. 1 cm thick. The reverse is bevelled on all sides, although only slightly at the top and bottom. Dendrochronology has shown that the youngest heartwood ring was formed in 1635. The panel could have been ready for use by 1646, but a date in or after 1652 is more likely.
Preparatory layers The single, thin, grey ground extends up to the edges of the support and barely fills the grain of the wood.
Underdrawing No underdrawing could be detected with the naked eye or infrared photography.
Paint layers The paint extends up to the edges of the support. The main figures were left in reserve and their contours have locally been adjusted over the background. The darker areas of the foreground consist of a semi-transparent brown paint, while for the lighter areas a more opaque, yellowish-brown paint was used. Infrared photography revealed a change in the position of the legs of the brown horse in the right middle ground. The rather thin paint layer is smooth and was applied with dabbed brushstrokes. Some slight impasto is visible in highlighted areas.
Anna Krekeler, 2022

Scientific examination and reports

technical report: G. Tauber / W. de Ridder, RMA, 29 January 1998
infrared photography: A. Krekeler, RMA, 14 March 2008
technical report: A. Krekeler, RMA, 14 March 2008
dendrochronology: P. Klein, RMA, 9 September 2008

Condition

Fair. There are large areas with numerous small and large discoloured retouchings. The varnish has yellowed.

Provenance

...; collection Jeanne-Baptiste d’Albert de Luynes (1670-1737), Comtesse de Verrue, Paris;¹ her sale, Paris (auction house not known), 27 (29) April 1737 sqq., no. 19, with another painting (‘Deux tres beaux Vauvermans moyens dont l’abrevoir’), fr. 3,775;²...; ? collection Etienne-François (1719-1785), Duc de Choiseul, Paris;³...; sale, Servad, Amsterdam (C. Ploos van Amstel et al.), 25 June 1778, no. 123 (‘op Paneel, hoog 18, breet 24½ duim. [46.3 x 63 cm] Van een hoogen Heuvel, met een Gebouw en Geboomten voorzien, ziet men verscheiden Paarden naar beneden komen, gelyd van Knegts om hen in de Rivier tot hunne verversing te leiden; digt aan den Oever ziet men een wit Paard, dat reeds gereed staat om de voorste pooten in ’t Water te zetten, waar op een Man zit, welke omziet naar twee Paarden agter hem, waar van een springende, als schrikkende voor ’t water, door een Knegt word by de Toom vastgehouden. [...] Dit stuk is mede in Prent gebragt, door J. Moyreau, onder de tytel van L’Abrevoir, No. 6’), fl. 2,500, to the dealer Pierre Fouquet;⁴...; purchased for £450 by the painter Benjamin West, Esq. (1738-1820), London;⁵ his sale, London (Christie’s), 23 (24) June 1820 sqq., no. 80 (‘The Watering Place, with the Red Cap. A scene on the bank of a river, animated by a variety of figures, the principal of which are grooms watering their horses, which interrupt a group of bathers. A cabaret is on the rising ground to the right; on the left a ferry boat is approaching the shore; and various objects are seen along the bank of the river, which is carried off into the distance [...]: from the Choiseul collection on pannel, about 18 inches by 25 [45.7 x 63.5 cm]’), bought in at 550 gns⁶ or £577 10s;⁷ sale, Benjamin West, Esq. (1738-1820, London), London, sold on the premises, 10 June 1822 sqq., no. 29 (‘The Watering Place, with the Red Cap [...] from the Choiseul collection - panel 18’’ x 25 [45.7 x 63.5 cm]’);⁸...; collection Joseph Barchard, Esq. P.R.A.;⁹ his sale, London (Christie’s), 6 May 1826, no. 21 (‘The Abreuvoir, a scene on the Bank of a River, animated by a variety of figures, the principal of which are Grooms watering their Horses, which interrupt a group of bathers. A Cabaret is on the rising ground to the right; on the left a ferry boat is approaching the shore, and various objects are seen along the bank of the river, which is carried off into a beautiful distance [...]. It was formerly in the cabinet of the Comtesse de Verrue, and has been engraved by Moyreau- on pannel, about 18 in. by 25 [45.7 x 63.5 cm]’), 650 gns, to Chev. Ferréol Bonnemaison (1766-1826), Paris;¹⁰ his sale, Paris (M. Henry), 2 April 1827 sqq., no. 86 (‘L’Abreuvoir - Bois; hauteur un pied sept pouces, largeur un pied onze pouces [48.6 x 58.4 cm]. Ce tableau [...] représente un site de Hollande, vu du bord d’une large rivière. A droite est un monticule couronné de quelques arbres légers, et d’une grande porte ou barrière de bois servant sans doute à fermer un péage. Au bas de cette éminence, à main gauche, coulent doucement les eaux de la rivière; au-delà les regards parcourent une vaste étendue de pays. La teinte bleuâtre de l’air, la lumière qui éclaire les nuages, indiquent une matinée; et le peintre a supposé l’heure où les palfreniers des environs viennent abreuver ou baigner leurs chevaux. Dix à douze de ces animaux superbes et plus de vingt personnages, tant hommes que femmes et enfans, distribués sur les devants du point de vue, y produisent des scènes pleines de vie et de mouvement. Sur le haut de la butte des paysannes gardent du linge qu’elles ont étendu pour le sécher; un villageois en descend avec deux chevaux, dont l’un menace de ses ruades un chien qui abboie contre lui. Plus bas un troisième cheval se cabre et refuse d’obéir à la main qui le conduit. Mais c’est surtout dans le milieu de l’avant-scène que ce sont rassemblés les détails les plus marquans du tableau, ceux où brille dans tout son éclat l’inimitable talent de l’auteur. Là vous voyez des laveuses et des baigneurs, figures exécutées avec autant d’esprit que de goût. Là semblent se mouvoir avec agilité cinq ou six chevaux, aussi différens de poil que de position; les uns, montés par des palfreniers, sont dans le bord de l’eau; les autres en sortent ou sont prèts [note in the Errata: ‘lisez près’] d’y entrer. Entre autres barques qui flottent au loin sur la rivière, on remarque un bac qui s’avance avec des passagers. [...] Cet intéressant ouvrage a été gravé plusieurs fois, et a fait partie du célèbre cabinet de la comtesse de Verrue [...]’), fr. 20,000;¹¹...; sale, Christianus Johannes Nieuwenhuys (1799-1883), London (Christie’s), 10 (11) May 1833 sqq., no. 119 (‘L’Abreuvoir. Panel; height 18 inches, width 24½ [45.7 x 62.2 cm]. This picture [...] represents a view upon the borders of a large river. On the left is a rising ground, upon which are seen a cluster of trees and a picturesque house, with a gate serving as a barrier. At the foot of this elevation glides the stream; beyond it the eye is led over a vast extent of country. The blue tint, and the light which brightens the clouds, foretel the rising morn; hostlers bringing their horses to water, and other figures are variously grouped, producing an effect altogether grand and striking. Upon the top of the hill two women are watching the linen which they have laid down to bleach. A man comes forward with two horses, − the one he leads kicks out at a dog that is barking at him [...]. This brilliant picture has been engraved by J. Moyreau, and formed part of the famous cabinet of the Countess De Verrue, the first and the most extraordinary perhaps that was ever formed in France by a private individual. It afterwards became one of the chief ornaments of the valuable collection of Joseph Barchard, Esq.’), bought in at £955 10s;¹²...; purchased for fl. 8,000 or £666 by Adriaan van der Hoop (1778-1854), Amsterdam;¹³ by whom bequeathed to the City of Amsterdam, with 223 other paintings, 1854;¹⁴ on loan from the City of Amsterdam to the museum since 30 June 1885¹⁵

Object number: SK-C-271

Credit line: On loan from the City of Amsterdam (A. van der Hoop Bequest)

The artist

Philips Wouwerman (Haarlem 1619 - Haarlem 1668)

Philips Wouwerman was baptized in Haarlem on 24 May 1619 as a son of the history painter Pouwels Joostensz, who was probably his teacher. De Bie says that he was a pupil of Frans Hals, although their work has nothing in common. An apprenticeship with Pieter Cornelisz Verbeeck is suspected on stylistic grounds. Another important influence was Pieter van Laer, who was also Haarlem-born and bred. It is known from notes made by the artist Matthias Scheits that Wouwerman, who came from a Reformed family, fled to Hamburg in 1638 in order to marry the Catholic Anna Pietersdr van Broeckhoff. He stayed there for a while, working in the studio of the history painter Evert Decker, but two years later he is again documented in his native Haarlem, where he remained for the rest of his life.

Wouwerman’s earliest dated painting is Military Encampment with Soldiers Gambling of 1639.¹⁶ He joined the Haarlem Guild of St Luke in 1640, being elected to the office of warden in 1646, and from 1642 and 1651 he served in the St George Civic Guard. Wouwerman made several history pieces with religious subjects for Catholic patrons. It is clear from various sources that he was a prosperous man. Houbraken mentions that he had important patrons from the very beginning of his career, and was able to give his daughter a dowry of 20,000 guilders. He supplemented his income by speculating on the property market and dealing in art. However, there are also indications that he suffered periods of poverty. For example, he is said to have painted his Miracle of St Hubert in 1660 for the clandestine Sint-Bernarduskerk in Haarlem in thanks for the financial support he had received from the parish priest. He remained productive to the end of his life, with his last dated picture, Grey Standing in a Stable,¹⁷ being executed in the year of his death. He died on 19 May 1668 and was buried in the Nieuwe Kerk in Haarlem four days later. Paintings by or belonging to him were sold at auction on 7 May 1670, a few months after the decease of his wife.

Wouwerman gained fame as a painter of horses, and specialized in landscapes with riders, ranging from battle scenes and army camps to hunting parties, horse fairs and stables. He also supplied the figures in landscapes by other Haarlem artists like Jacob van Ruisdael, Jan Wijnants and Cornelis Decker. His many pupils included Nicolaes Ficke (c. 1620/23-before 1702), Emanuel Murant (1622-c. 1700), Simon Dubois (1632-1708) and Anthonie de Haen (1640/41-in or before 1675). He may also have taught his younger brothers Pieter (1623-1682) and Jan (1629-1666). Wouwerman’s work, which in the eighteenth century fetched some of the highest prices for paintings from the Dutch Golden Age, was imitated by countless others.

Gerdien Wuestman, 2022

References
T. Schrevelius, Harlemias, Haarlem 1648, p. 384; C. de Bie, Het gulden cabinet van de edel vrij schilder const, inhoudende den lof vande vermarste schilders, architecte, beldthowers ende plaetsnijders van deze eeuw, Antwerp 1662, pp. 281-82; A. Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen, II, Amsterdam 1719, pp. 70-75, 102; R. van Eynden and A. van der Willigen, Geschiedenis der vaderlandsche schilderkunst, sedert de helft der XVIII eeuw, I, Haarlem 1816, pp. 404-06; A. van der Willigen, Geschiedkundige aanteekeningen over Haarlemsche schilders en andere beoefenaren van de beeldende kunsten, voorafgegaan door eene korte geschiedenis van het schilders- of St. Lucas Gild aldaar, Haarlem 1866, pp. 241-44; C.J. Gonnet, ‘De schilders Pouwels, Pieter en Steven Wouwerman’, in F.D.O. Obreen, Archief voor Nederlandsche kunstgeschiedenis: Verzameling van meerendeels onuitgegeven berichten en mededeelingen betreffende Nederlandsche schilders, plaatsnijders, beeldhouwers, bouwmeesters, juweliers, goud- en zilverdrijvers [enz.], VII, Rotterdam 1888-90, pp. 118-26; C. Hofstede de Groot, ‘Die Malerfamilie Wouwerman’, Kunstchronik, N.S. 2 (1890-91), cols. 1-5; A. Lichtwark, Matthias Scheits, als Schilderer des Hamburger Lebens, 1650-1700, Hamburg 1899, pp. 43-44; S. Kalff, ‘De gebroeders Wouwerman’, Elsevier’s Geïllustreerd Maandschrift 30 (1920), pp. 96-103; U. Thieme and F. Becker (eds.), Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart, XXXVI, Leipzig 1947, pp. 265-68; H. Miedema, De archiefbescheiden van het St. Lucasgilde te Haarlem, 1497-1798, II, Alphen aan den Rijn 1980, p. 1211; F.J. Duparc, ‘Philips Wouwerman, 1619-1668’, Oud Holland 107 (1993), pp. 257-86; B. Schumacher, Philips Wouwerman (1619-1668): The Horse Painter of the Golden Age, I, Doornspijk 2006, pp. 13-21, 25-38; I. van Thiel-Stroman, ‘Biographies 15th-17th Century’, in P. Biesboer et al., Painting in Haarlem 1500-1850: The Collection of the Frans Hals Museum, coll. cat. Haarlem 2006, pp. 99-363, esp. pp. 357-61

Entry

Throughout the nineteenth century this was one of Philips Wouwerman’s most popular works. It was then called The Horsepond with the Red Cap because of the headgear worn by the rider of the brown horse just to the left of centre.¹⁸ The painting was part of several famous collections, and was turned into a print as early as 1733 by the French engraver Jean Moyreau.¹⁹ Its admirers praised the exuberant staffage of horsemen, washerwomen and bathers, and the use of colour.²⁰ ‘One of his rare silvery pictures’, was a comment in a copy of the 1820 catalogue for the Benjamin West sale.²¹

Here Wouwerman has depicted several kinds of horse. The grey in the centre is of Spanish/Andalusian origin, while the one rearing to its right is a jennet, a fiery Spanish/Berber type.²² The latter is probably the same as the one in the right foreground of The Bucking Grey.²³ The animal kicking out with its hind legs near the ruin on the hill belongs to the same high-spirited breed. The landscape is composed, as it so often is in the artist’s paintings. According to Löffler, the rather dilapidated building on the right bank can be identified as the remains of Rijnsburg Abbey seen from the south.²⁴ They also feature in Wouwerman’s Stag Hunt in the Rijksmuseum.²⁵

This Horsepond on a River should be dated after 1660. It is above all the many figures, with little interaction between them, arranged horizontally along the bottom edge of the picture that is characteristic of Wouwerman’s later work. Schumacher placed it around 1662-63.²⁶ There is a drawing in London of the two riders seen from behind to the left of the man with the red cap.²⁷ Its autograph nature is disputed because of the poor rendering of the animal.²⁸ Several painted copies are documented, including one reversed left for right.²⁹

Gerdien Wuestman, 2022

See Key to abbreviations, Rijksmuseum painting catalogues and Acknowledgements

Literature

J. Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters, I, London 1829, pp. 250-51, no. 172; ibid., IX, 1842, p. 159, no. 62; C. Hofstede de Groot, Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten holländischen Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts, II, Esslingen/Paris 1908, pp. 272-73, no. 70; B. Schumacher, Philips Wouwerman (1619-1668): The Horse Painter of the Golden Age, I, Doornspijk 2006, pp. 71, 187, no. A44

Collection catalogues

1887, p. 194, no. 1655; 1903, p. 304, no. 2717; 1934, p. 324, no. 2717; 1976, p. 614, no. C 271

Citation

Gerdien Wuestman, 2022, 'Philips Wouwerman, Horsepond on a River, c. 1662 - 1663', in J. Bikker (ed.), Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: hdl.handle.net/10934/RM0001.COLLECT.6602

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