The Riding School

Over the course of nearly two decades, Philips Wouwerman painted some twenty depictions of riding schools, works that are among his most distinctive and enduringly popular subjects. Of this group, only six remain in private hands (see B. Schumacher, op. cit., pp. 175-177, nos. A14-A20). In terms of both quality and quantity, Wouwerman’s treatment of the riding school reached its apogee in the early 1660s. Birgit Schumacher dates the present painting to this period (loc. cit.). Wouwerman’s approach to painting in the early 1660s saw a greater elegance and refinement, aided by his increasingly transparent application of paint. Similarly, the figures in his genre scenes become larger, their facial features more subtly rendered and the color of their clothing more radiant, while landscape elements are noticeably reduced.

While nothing of its early history is known, this painting evidently enjoyed early fame, no doubt on account of a contemporaneous reproductive engraving by Dancker Danckerts. Schumacher lists free copies by Wouwerman’s contemporaries Johannes Lingelbach and Jan Frans Soolmaker as well as further anonymous copies, including one today at the Nasjonalmuseet, Oslo (loc. cit.). To this group, one can add a painting by Simon Johannes van Douw, which repeats the principal compositional elements but notably reverses the direction of the rearing white horse and removes the group of figures at left (Christie’s, London, 7 December 2005, lot 38).

For a discussion of the painting's provenance, please visit the online catalogue at christies.com.