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The Return from Hawking
Philips Wouwermanc.1660-65
Dulwich Picture Gallery
London, United Kingdom
Another work from the early 1660s, this painting sees Wouwerman at his most elegant: works such as this had a great influence on eighteenth-century French painters like Jean-Antoine Watteau and François Boucher.
Wouwerman is said to have produced over one thousand pictures between 1640 and 1668, favouring open-air social and military scenes, although many of these may be the work of his brothers. He became famous for his skill at depicting horses, and they often feature prominently in his paintings.
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Details
- Title: The Return from Hawking
- Creator Lifespan: 1619 - 1668
- Date: c.1660-65
- Physical Dimensions: w648 x h473 cm
- Type: Painting
- Medium: Oil
- null: Engraving by J. Moyreau.Is Murray correct in suggesting this picture was owned by Desenfans in 1795? Might it not be: John Davenport; his sale, London, Christie's, 21 Feb. 1801 (‘Going out Hawking, a very capital and elegant picture, a rich scene, from the Orleans Collection'. Handwritten annotation in OGD catalogue notes ‘Sky damaged'). Bt Bourgeois for £168.0.However, might this not be the same picture as: Elwyn; his sale London, Phillip's, 27 Jun. 1807, lot 18 (‘Wouvermans–A landscape with a Nobleman's Chateau and Persons of Distinction going out a Hunting, a rich composition, containing a pleasing variety of figures and animals, painted in his enamelled style; from the Orleans' Collection'). Bt in for £357.0.and then:Andrew Caldwell; his sale, London, DUjon, 2 Mar. 1809, lot 127 (‘Philip Wouvermans–Returning from the Chace, from the Orleans Collection. A singularly fine picture of this great master in which he has given us such a rich and voluptuous combination of excellence as must command our admiration and wonder, whether we consider his profound skill in the composition, the extraordinary richness of the coloring, the perfection of the animals, the charming choice of his scenery, his free and spirited touch that animates and gives a magic effect to the whole and makes it worthy of a place in the collection of the most refined amateur'.) Bt Byrne for £227.10.
- Work Nationality: Dutch
- Support: Panel
- Provenance: London, Noel Desenfans, 1795-1807: London, Skinner and Dyke, Desenfans sale, 28 Feb. 1795, lot 17; 1804 Insurance List, no. 84; London, Sir Francis Bourgeois, 1811; Bourgeois Bequest, 1811.
- Inscriptions: PHLSW
- Further Information: This dynamic work by Philips Wouwerman shows a noble entourage returning from hawking. In the centre of the composition, a gentleman still mounted on his horse is shown facing away from the viewer, with a hawk resting on his forearm. The various placements and angles of the characters within the composition creates a bustling scene that includes the viewer in its excitement—in the centre foreground a white horses rears, drawing the attention of the small dog to the right; on the left, a young lady holding flowers shares flirtatious glances with the gentleman in yellow, who has just dismounted his horse. Wouwerman was extremely popular in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, especially amongst aristocratic collectors in France and Germany and influenced the development of the tableaux vivant genre.
- Artist: Wouwerman, Philips
- Acquisition Method: Bourgeois, Sir Peter Francis (Bequest, 1811)
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