Philips Wouwerman

Gerard Braamcamp (d. 1771), Amsterdam;
Either, His sale, Amsterdam, Van der Schley, 31 July 1771, no. 287 (where acquired by Ploos van Amstel), or His sale, Amsterdam, Van der Schley, 31 July 1773, lot 371 (where acquired by Pieter Fouquet);¹
Anonymous Sale, The Hague, van Marle & Bignell, 19 April 1943, lot 93 (where unsold);
Carlos Adler, Buenos Aires, by 1952;
With Frederick Mont, New York;
From whom purchased by The Cleveland Museum of Art [Mr. and Mrs. William H. Marlatt Fund, acc. no. 1967.124].

Cleveland, Cleveland Museum of Art, Year in Review for 1967, December 1967, no. 70;
Cleveland, Cleveland Museum of Art, Dutch Art and Life in the Seventeenth Century, 10 July - 2 September 1973 (no cat. no.);
Cleveland, Cleveland Museum of Art, North European Landscape Art, 1450-1650, 10 September - 3 November 1996 (no cat. no.).

J. Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the most eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters, vol. I, London 1829, p. 227, no. 91;
C. Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, vol. II, London 1909, p. 589, no. 1010;
R. Brimo, Art et Goût.  L'Evolution du goût  aux Etat-Unis d'après l'histoire des collections, Paris 1938, p. 67;
H. Gerson, De Schoonheid van ons Land. Nederlandse Schilderkunst:  Het Tijdperk van Rembrandt en Vermeer, Amsterdam 1952, vol. II, p. 49, reproduced fig. 144;
Cleveland Museum of Art, Handbook, 1969, p. 122, reproduced;
Cleveland Museum of Art, Handbook, 1978, p. 156, reproduced;
Cleveland Museum of Art, Catalogue of Paintings:  Part Three.  European Paintings of the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries, Cleveland 1982, pp. 292-293, no. 130, reproduced fig. 130;
P.C. Sutton, A Guide to Dutch Art in America, Grand Rapids 1986, pp. 70, 350;
A. Chong, European & American Painting in The Cleveland Museum of Art:  A Summary Catalogue, Cleveland 1993, p. 261, reproduced;
B. Schumacher, Philips Wouwerman (1619-1668):  The Horse Painter of the Golden Age, Doornspijk 2006, vol. I, pp. 359-360, no. A479, reproduced, vol. II, pl. 446.

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com , an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting is in very good condition. The paint layer may be slightly dirty and the varnish is dull. The panel is made from a singe piece of un-reinforced oak. The only retouches we are aware of and that probably do exist are two or three small spots in the sky. Cleaning the painting is advised as this will not reveal any old restorations and will brighten the palette quite noticeably.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

Although most famous for his remarkable ability to depict horses, which appear in his numerous small cabinet pictures of battle scenes, stables and travellers, Philips Wouwerman was also more versatile, as attested to by the evocative landscapes, genre scenes and mythological and religious works that bear his name.  Prolific in his output, over one thousand paintings have been attributed to Philips Wouwerman, even though he died relatively young at the age of only forty-eight.

In this work, the horses and figures seem secondary to the beautiful, serene dune landscape in which they travel.  The silvery blue-gray of the sky is characteristic of Wouwerman's work of the 1640s and early 1650s.  The white horse and its rider in his jaunty red coat are silhouetted against this landscape and provide a pop of bright color in the work's otherwise subdued palette.  Schumacher dates this work to around 1644, which is consistent with the use of the monogram PHW, which the artist used only until about 1646 when he began to favor the moniker PHILSW instead.  The overall tone of the picture is slightly mysterious, with the isolated figures evoking feelings of insignificance in the face of the grandeur of nature. 


1.   According to the provenance given in Schumacher, op. cit., p. 360.