Philips Wouwerman

Last updated • 5 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
Philips Wouwerman
Philips wouwerman zelfportret-red-chalk.jpg
Self-Portrait, c. 1640, red chalk on paper, British Museum, London
Born(1619-05-24)24 May 1619, Haarlem
Died19 May 1668(1668-05-19) (aged 48), Haarlem
Nationality Dutch
Known for Painting

Philips Wouwerman (also Wouwermans) (24 May 1619 (baptized) – 19 May 1668) was a Dutch painter of hunting, landscape and battle scenes. He became prolific during the Dutch Golden Age and joined the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke.

Contents

Life and work

Philips Wouwerman was one of the most versatile and prolific artists of the Dutch Golden Age. Embedded in the artistic environment and tradition of his home town of Haarlem, Wouwerman made an important and highly influential contribution to the canon of seventeenth-century Dutch painting. His pictures were in demand during his lifetime, and even more sought after in the 18th century. Throughout Europe, formerly princely art collections like in Dresden and St. Petersburg still bear witness to this widespread admiration of Wouwerman's art. [1]

Battle scene Battle Scene A15920.jpg
Battle scene

Born in Haarlem in 1619, the son of a now altogether obscure painter named Pouwels Joostsz Wouwerman, little is known of his artistic schooling. According to Cornelis de Bie, he studied with Frans Hals (1581/85–1666), but the particular style of Hals didn't leave a footmark on his oeuvre. [1] Apart from a short stay in Hamburg at the end of the 1630s, Wouwerman seemed to have lived in Haarlem during his whole artistic career and died as a prosperous member of the community at the age of 48. [1] He joined the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke in 1640 and here took on several official posts in the years to come. [2] Wouwerman also worked as an estate agent in his home town, as many documents in Haarlem archives mentioned the artist in this context.[ citation needed ]

Wouwerman started his artistic career with simple depictions of everyday life in the tradition of the bamboccianti by Pieter van Laer (1592/99–after 1642). [1] His paintings of the mid-1640s often feature a diagonal slope of land, a tree which functions as a repoussoir, and figures accompanied by horses. [1] Over the next thirty years he developed an individual style, treating a wide range of subjects from genre and landscape to military and religious scenes (equestrian scenes, hunting and hawking parties, landscapes with travellers, cavalry battles and military encampments, peasants festivities etc.). He is noted for his skill in the depiction of horses of all breeds seen in motion. The art historian Frederik J. Duparc calls Wouwerman "undoubtedly the most accomplished and successful 17th-century Dutch painter of horses". [1] The masterpieces from his best period (around 1650–1660) are of indisputably high quality, beautifully combining imaginary southern landscapes and a typically Dutch atmosphere. Wouwerman's paintings are characterized by subdued colours, a cool atmosphere and a wealth of witty, anecdotal details. He died in Haarlem. [1]

Courtyard with a farrier shoeing a horse Wouwerman, Philips - Courtyard with a Farrier shoeing a Horse - Google Art Project.jpg
Courtyard with a farrier shoeing a horse

The first retrospective exhibition of Philips Wouwerman's work took place in Kassel, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, and in The Hague, The Royal Picture Gallers Mauritshuis, 2009/2010.[ citation needed ]

Family

At an early age, Wouwerman married Anna Pietersz. van Broeckhoff with whom he had ten children. They lived on the Bakenessergracht in a house that was also lived in by Haarlem painters Cornelis Gerritsz Decker and Hendrik de Meijer. Seven of the Wouwerman children survived and, after the death of their mother in 1670, accepted a substantial inheritance. [1]

Output

About 800 pictures were listed in John Smith's Catalogue raisonné (1829/1842) as the work of Philip Wouwerman. In Hofstede de Groot's enlarged Catalogue (1908) the number exceeds to 1200. In Birgit Schumacher's recently published Catalogue raisonné (2006), only about 570 pictures were listed as authentic works, as many of the pictures mentioned by Hofstede de Groot were actually painted by countless followers and imitators all over Europe. Jan and Pieter Wouwerman, the younger brothers of Philips, were often regarded as close followers whose pictures seemed to have been frequently attributed to Philips.

The white horse De schimmel Rijksmuseum SK-A-1610.jpeg
The white horse

The oeuvre of Pieter (1623–1682) clearly manifests the influence of Philips with regard to the range of subjects, but regarding the artistic style, Pieter had quite one of his own. And Jan (1629–1666) was a rather autonomous landscape painter. Out of the countless followers, some of the most gifted artists working in Wouwerman's style are worth mentioning: Jan van Huchtenburgh (1647–1733), the brothers Jan Frans (1683–1750) and Joseph van Bredael (1688–1739) as well as Carel van Falens (1683–1733). [3]

His registered pupils were Johannes van der Bent, Hendrick Berckman, Eduard Dubois, Nicolas Ficke, Barent Gael, Anthony de Haen, Emanuel Murant, Matthias Scheits, Kort Withold, and his brothers. [2]

Selected works

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jan van Goyen</span> Dutch landscape painter (1596–1656)

Jan Josephszoon van Goyen was a Dutch landscape painter. The scope of his landscape subjects was very broad as he painted forest landscapes, marine paintings, river landscapes, beach scenes, winter landscapes, cityscapes, architectural views and landscapes with peasants. The list of painters he influenced is much longer. He was an extremely prolific artist who left approximately twelve hundred paintings and more than one thousand drawings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Vinckboons</span> Dutch painter

David Vinckboons was a Dutch Golden Age painter born in Mechelen, Southern Netherlands. Vinckboons, whose name is often spelled as Vingboons, Vinghboons, Vinckebonis or Vinckboom, had at least ten children. His sons were the cartographer and watercolourist Johannes and the architects Justus and Philip. Vinckboons himself died in Amsterdam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adriaen van der Werff</span> Dutch painter (1659–1722)

Adriaen van der Werff was a Dutch painter of portraits and erotic, devotional and mythological scenes. He painted several works for the Medicis. His brother, Pieter van der Werff (1661–1722), was his principal pupil and assistant.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornelis Hofstede de Groot</span> Dutch art collector (1863–1930)

Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, was a Dutch art collector, art historian and museum curator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pieter Wouwerman</span> Dutch Golden Age landscape painter

Pieter Wouwerman was a Dutch Golden Age landscape painter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacob Vrel</span> Dutch painter

Jacob Vrel was a Dutch, Flemish, or Westphalian painter of interiors and urban street scenes during the Dutch Golden Age (1588–1672). He was likely most active from 1654 to 1662.

<i>St Mark</i> (Hals) Painting by Frans Hals

St. Mark is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals, painted in 1625. It was purchased by Russian philanthropist Alisher Usmanov from the art dealer Colnaghi, London in September 2013 for the Pushkin Museum and donated by him to that museum in November that year, where it still hangs.

<i>Portrait of a Woman Standing</i> (Kassel) Painting by Frans Hals

Portrait of a Woman Standing (Kassel) is a painting by the Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals, painted in 1618–1620 and now in Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister (Kassel). It is considered a pendant portrait to the Portrait of a Man Standing, in the same museum.

<i>Catharina Both-van der Eem</i> Painting by Frans Hals

Catharina Both van der Eem is a painting by the Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals, painted in 1620 and now in Louvre Museum. It is considered a pendant portrait to the Portrait of Paulus van Beresteyn, in the same museum.

<i>Woman Lacing Her Bodice Beside a Cradle</i> Painting by Pieter de Hooch

Woman lacing her bodice beside a cradle is an oil-on-canvas painting by the Dutch painter Pieter de Hooch, created c. 1660–1663. It is part of the collection of the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Smith (art historian)</span> British art dealer (1781–1855)

John Smith (1781–1855) was a 19th-century British art dealer who developed the concept of the catalogue raisonné.

<i>The Ray of Light</i> Painting by Jacob van Ruisdael

The Ray of Light, also known as Le Coup de Soleil, is an oil on canvas painting by the Dutch painter Jacob van Ruisdael. It is an example of Dutch Golden Age painting and is now in the collection of the Louvre Museum.

<i>View of Bentheim Castle</i> Painting by Jacob van Ruisdael

View of Bentheim Castle is an oil on canvas painting of Burg Bentheim by the Dutch landscape painter Jacob van Ruisdael. It is an example of Dutch Golden Age painting and is now in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.

<i>A Wooded Marsh</i> Painting by Jacob van Ruisdael

A Wooded Marsh is an oil on canvas painting by the Dutch landscape painter Jacob van Ruisdael. It is an example of Dutch Golden Age painting and is now in the collection of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, Russia.

<i>Dune Landscape near Haarlem</i> 17th-century painting by Jacob van Ruisdael

Dune Landscape near Haarlem, also known as The Bush and The Thicket near Haarlem, is an oil on canvas painting by the Dutch Golden Age painter Jacob van Ruisdael. It is in the collection of the Louvre in Paris.

<i>The Holy Family with Angels</i> 1645 painting by Rembrandt

The Holy Family with Angels (1645) is an oil painting on canvas by the Dutch painter Rembrandt. It is an example of Dutch Golden Age painting and is now in the collection of the Hermitage Museum.

<i>Panoramic view of the Amstel looking toward Amsterdam</i> Painting by Jacob van Ruisdael (c. 1671–1681)

Panoramic view of the Amstel looking toward Amsterdam is a 17th-century oil on canvas painting by the Dutch Golden Age painter Jacob van Ruisdael. It is in the collection of the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.

<i>Evening Landscape: A Windmill by a Stream</i> Painting by Jacob van Ruisdael

Evening Landscape: A Windmill by a Stream is a 17th-century oil on canvas painting by the Dutch Golden Age painter Jacob van Ruisdael. It is in the collection of Queen Elizabeth II, on display at the Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace. It was acquired by King George IV in 1810.

<i>View of Haarlem from the Northwest, with the Bleaching Fields in the Foreground</i> Painting by Jacob van Ruisdael

View of Haarlem from the Northwest, with the Bleaching Fields in the Foreground is an oil on canvas painting by the Dutch landscape painter Jacob van Ruisdael. It is an example of Dutch Golden Age painting and is now in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.

<i>The Rape of Ganymede</i> (Rembrandt) Painting by Rembrandt

The Rape of Ganymede is an oil painting of 1635 by the Dutch Golden Age painter Rembrandt, depicting the myth of Ganymede. It is in the collection of the Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Duparc, Frederik J. "Wouwerman, Philips." Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Retrieved February 23, 2014
  2. 1 2 Philips Wouwerman in the RKD
  3. Chisholm 1911, p. 838.
Attribution

Further reading

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Philips Wouwerman at Wikimedia Commons