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| A Man and a Woman on Horseback |
Artist:Philips Wouwerman (Dutch, Haarlem 1619–1668 Haarlem)
Date:ca. 1653–54
Medium:Oil on wood
Dimensions:12 1/8 x 16 1/4 in. (30.8 x 41.3 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Purchase, Pfeiffer Fund, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, and Gift of Dr. Ernest G. Stillman, by exchange, 1971
In this early work by the Haarlem painter Wouwerman, work, rest, and riding for pleasure coexist for a moment on the bank of a canal. While famous for his horses, the artist was remarkably original as a landscapist and a close observer of human interaction.
Catalogue Entry
It is generally agreed that this well-preserved picture by Wouwerman is a comparatively early work, dating from about 1653–54. The setting is a towpath along a Dutch canal. A gentleman on a handsome white horse and an elegant—if somewhat overdressed—woman sitting sidesaddle on a sorrel mount are out riding for pleasure. They have come upon a bay horse harnessed to pull the canal barge on the left. A man in green, with a fur cap, glances soberly at the running boy who appears to beg for a coin. The smiling young man behind the draft horse is probably attempting to align the animal for hooking up and trudging onward. The bay leans forward, resisting, which is unsurprising given the raw wound that the harness has rubbed into his side. A man in red hauls a heavy sack to the barge, which is already loaded with freight and at least three male passengers (a boy and an old man by the mast, and an apparently young man sitting in the bottom of the boat). In front of the barge, a naked youth stands hip high in the water, and another, slightly covered, sits on the bank. Across the canal, two boats, perhaps a weyschuit (fishing boat, with the blue flag) and a small kaag (cargo vessel), are tied up in front of an inn or farmhouse. Each boat is attended by a bargeman.
All these details and many more (the delicately described trees, for example) are carefully rendered by the artist, who gave close attention to the expressions of the figures, not least that of the gentleman rider, who looks with apparent concern to the side, though what, specifically, draws his attention is difficult to say. Clearly, however, Wouwerman intended to contrast the haves and have-nots.
Wouwerman painted many fashionable couples passing by inns, pausing at watering places, and so forth. In many, mostly later pictures, the subject has an air of romance and literary derivation. Here, more meaning is found in simple observations.
[2016; adapted from Liedtke 2007]
Copyright Image
https://images.metmuseum.org
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