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Two Horses
Abraham van CalraetBefore 1722
Dulwich Picture Gallery
London, United Kingdom
In 1843, the writer and critic William Hazlitt wrote of this painting: “Nature is scarcely more faithful to itself than this delightfully unmannered, unaffected picture is to it.”
This work was then still wrongly attributed to Aelbert Cuyp, as were other Calraets in Dulwich Picture Gallery's collection.
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Details
- Title: Two Horses
- Creator Lifespan: 1642 - 1722
- Date: Before 1722
- Physical Dimensions: w404 x h290 cm
- Type: Painting
- Medium: Oil
- Work Nationality: Dutch
- Support: Panel
- Provenance: London, Noel Desenfans, 1804-1811: 1804 Insurance List, either no. 102 or 103 (as Cuyp); London, Sir Francis Bourgeois, 1807-1811; Bourgeois Bequest, 1811.
- Inscriptions: AC
- Further Information: Abraham van Calraet (1642-1722), a Dutch painter of landscapes and still lifes, was the eldest son of Pieter Jansz. van Calraet (c. 1620–81), a sculptor and woodcarver from Utrecht who had settled in Dordrecht. Abraham’s work relates closely to that of Aelbert Cuyp in both style and subject matter, and his paintings have often been misattributed to the artist, as the present work was up until the twentieth century. The shared initials between the two artists has contributed to the difficulty in distinguishing Calraet’s oeuvre from that of Cuyp. Calraet, however, was one of the foremost painters and horses of the seventeenth century in his own right, as demonstrated in this painting of two horses. Though its subject matter pays tribute to Cuyp, its palette is more monochromatic. The sun, shines from the left corner—out of view from the observer—casting a golden light over the scene and creating a strong contrast between light and shadow.
- Artist: van Calraet, Abraham
- Acquisition Method: Bourgeois, Sir Peter Francis (Bequest, 1811)
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