Follower of Philips Wouwerman (1619-1668) - 18th Century Oil The Encampment

Description

This charming 18th-century oil captures a lively gathering of travellers and merchants with their horses and laden carts, set beneath a luminous evening sky. Rendered with delicate brushwork in the style of the Dutch Golden Age master Philips Wouwerman (1619-1668). Unsigned. Beautifully presented in an ornate gilt frame. On canvas on stretchers.

Condition

Signs of wear consistent with age. Light discolouration to the surface. Fine craquelure and minor abrasions throughout. The artwork has undergone previous restoration, including relining and small areas of overpainting visible under UV light. Overall, the artwork is in very good condition for its age. Some wear to the frame, including scuffs, chips and fine cracking.

Size

36.5 x 47.5cm (14.4" x 18.7")
Framed Size: 56 x 66cm (22.0" x 26.0")

Artist Biography

Philips Wouwerman was a Dutch Golden Age painter, baptized on 24 May 1619 in Haarlem, where he spent virtually his entire career. He came from a family of painters: his father, Paulus Joostensz Wouwerman, was his first teacher, and his younger brothers Pieter and Jan also became artists. Wouwerman joined the Haarlem Guild of Saint Luke in 1640, the same year he married Annetje Pietersz van Broeckhof, with whom he had numerous children. Although early biographers such as Cornelis de Bie linked him briefly to the workshop of Frans Hals, the stronger stylistic influence on his work came from the Italianate painter Pieter van Laer (known as Bamboccio), who returned to Haarlem in 1639. He specialised in equestrian subjects and is best known for cavalry skirmishes, hunting parties, military encampments, travellers at inns, and pastoral landscapes—almost always featuring horses rendered with exceptional anatomical accuracy. A white or pale grey horse appears so often in his compositions that it became something of a personal signature. He worked on a small to medium scale with refined, silvery tonalities and finely detailed figures. Wouwerman was extraordinarily prolific; more than 500 paintings are generally accepted as his work, and he ran a productive workshop that included his brothers and pupils such as Nicolaes Berchem's circle. He was financially successful in his lifetime, and his reputation grew further after his death, particularly in the 18th century, when his pictures were avidly collected by French, German, and Russian aristocrats and reached some of the highest prices paid for any Dutch painter. Catherine the Great, Louis XV, and Frederick the Great were among his admirers, and major holdings of his work entered the Hermitage, the Louvre, and the Dresden Gemäldegalerie. He was buried in Haarlem on 19 May 1668.