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White Horse in a Riding School
Abraham van CalraetBefore 1722
Dulwich Picture Gallery
London, United Kingdom
Calraet probably trained with Aelbert Cuyp, whose works are also well represented in Dulwich’s collection. Due to the fact that Calraet signed his works with the same initials as his master's (although with a rather distinct cypher), Calraet’s pictures were regularly misattributed to Cuyp - in this case up until 1953.
The theme of the riding school was also inspired by Cuyp, as were the poses of some of Calraet’s horses. The chestnut horse in this painting is nearly identical to one which appears in Cuyp’s An Evening Ride near a River, also in Dulwich’s collection.
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Details
- Title: White Horse in a Riding School
- Creator Lifespan: 1642 - 1722
- Date: Before 1722
- Physical Dimensions: w520 x h349 cm
- Type: Painting
- Medium: Oil
- Work Notes: Until 1953 catalogued as Cuyp. Versions in the collection of the Duke of Bedrod, Woburn Abbey, and another sold Phillip's, 14 Feb. 1989, lot 9. Engraved by R. Cockburn. In 1880 cat cf. with a picture in Rotterdam.HdG604 - same reference given to DPG4 - Why?
- Work Nationality: Dutch
- Support: Panel
- Provenance: London, Noel Desenfans, 1804-1807: 1804 Insurance List, either no. 102 or 103 (as Cuyp); London, Sir Francis Bourgeois, 1807-1811; Bourgeois Bequest, 1811.
- Inscriptions: AC
- Further Information: A Dutch painter of landscapes and still lifes, Abraham van Calraet was the eldest son of Pieter Jansz. van Calraet (c. 1620–81), a sculptor and woodcarver from Utrecht who had settled in Dordrecht. According to the eighteenth century biographer Houbraken, Abraham first trained in the studio of the sculptors Aemilius and Samuel Huppe. It is significant that his brother Barent van Calraet was a pupil of Aelbert Cuyp, for Abraham’s style is close to that of Cuyp and has often been mistaken for it, unaided by the fact that both artists share the same initials. He took themes developed by Cuyp, most notably the horse in the stable or riding school, and made them his own, as in the present work. Despite great similarities, Calraet uses a more monochromatic palette and depicts his subjects with greater stiffness than the older Dutch master.
- Artist: van Calraet, Abraham
- Acquisition Method: Bourgeois, Sir Peter Francis (Bequest, 1811)
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