p. 126-130 Metsu, Philips Wouwerman
126 MUSEUM OF AMSTERDAM.
... nothing. This man is perfectly happy. Above the barrel, a pitcher of stoneware and a slate, hung on nails. The rest of the background is neutral, in a very fine pearl gray harmony. The figure is also cut off at the knees.
Between 1810 and 1827, this little gem doubled in price. It fetched 1,560 guilders at Smeth van Alpen's auction (1810), before rising to 2,860 guilders at Gerrit Muller 's auction (Amsterdam, 1827). How much has it risen in price over the past thirty years?
I can find no notable disciple of Metsu in the Amsterdam museum,1 and so I move on to another master who is as admired in his genre as Metsu is in his.
PHILIPS WOUWERMAN. – In my opinion, however, Wouwerman, with all his qualities, is not at all on the same level as the former, the princes (principles) of the school of painting, as used to be said. He may be duke or count, a gentleman certainly, and of a distinguished, lively, able, and witty breed. But Cuijp is stronger than he; Terburg and Metsu have more elegance; Adriaan van Ostade and Adriaan van de Velde have the simplicity he lacks; Jan Steen has the real spirit he lacks ... Bah! All these hierarchies in painting mean nothing. Everyone has the right to worship his idols, to praise the nobleman whose quarters [of his coat of arms] he can count, – or to sympathize with simple folk like Jan Steen and Brouwer.
127 PHILIPS WOUWERMAN.
Who has painted better than Wouwerman little departures for the hunt, at the bottom of the steps of a castle, ladies on horseback, falcon in fist, packs barking between the horses' feet; little arrivals at the inn, little clashes of riders? No one. And among the artists who, after him and inspired by him, have repeated these subjects, no one has matched him. Let us therefore agree that the taste of collectors will not stray away from this precious painter. If Philips Wouwerman is worth ten times Van Huchtenburgh, fifty times Van der Meulen, why shouldn't a painting by him be worth 10,000 francs, 50,000 francs? – 100,000 francs?
The Amsterdam museum is quite rich in Wouwerman, at least in numbers. It has nine paintings by this master. That is not much, to be honest, compared to the Hermitage, which has 49, and the museum in Dresden, which has 63!2 – more than Holland has retained, adding up all those in museums and private collections. The Van der Hoop Museum has only three; the Hague Museum has nine, as does the Amsterdam Museum; the Rotterdam Museum has three.3 This is barely a third of the number in Dresden! Smith has catalogued 522 of Wouwerman's nearly one thousand paintings.4
The unfortunate thing is that our nine Wouwermans in the Amsterdam museum – the number is nevertheless fortunate – are not of the quality of the thirteen – the ...
128 MUSEUM OF AMSTERDAM.
... number has lost its fatality here – which the Louvre possesses. I will give only a brief summary. In the museum at The Hague, we shall be able to better appreciate the master of the Coup de pistolet, the Chariot de foin, the Marché aux chevaux, so many hunts, horsemen halting and inimitable battles.5
"No. 328. A mountain landscape". This is nothing [195].6
"No. 329. A landscape with horses and figures". This is not much [196].7
"No. 330. The plundering of a village, the peasants driving back the soldiers" [197].8 Very important, but not very cheerful. Countless figures, varied events. Soldiers attack peasants in a village surrounded by woods. In the foreground, a half-naked officer, arms tied up, is dragged away by peasants who have taken possession of his uniform; a peasant beats a soldier lying on the ground; dead and wounded; horses overthrown, hindquarters overhead; a child killed, etc. In the second plan, the fighting continues: the soldiers flee, pursued from all sides. Signed with the full double monogram, with the last S of Philips, turned around the second style of the H.– H. 1 foot 10 inches; w. 2 feet 6 inches. On canvas. Auction Dornburgh, The Hague, 1745, with pendant, 1,400 guilders; Van der Pot, 1808, 3,625 guilders.
"No. 331. A heron hunt" [198].9 This one had passed into famous collections: Choiseul, 1772, 3,000 francs; Prince de Conti, 1779, 2,700 francs; ...
195
Philips Wouwerman
Blacksmith Shoeing a Horse, c. 1652 - c. 1655
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv./cat.nr. SK-A-478
196
Philips Wouwerman
Horsepond near a Boundary Stone, c. 1651 - c. 1654
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv./cat.nr. SK-A- 485
197
Philips Wouwerman
The victory of the peasants, c. 1665
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv./cat.nr. SK-A-482
198
Philips Wouwerman
Hilly landscape with a falcon hunt, c. 1658 - c. 1660
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv./cat.nr. SK-A-481
129 PHILIPS WOUWERMAN.
... Tolozan, 1801, 2,720 francs; Van der Pot, 3,030 guilders. It is less than 1 foot wide and 10 inches high. It is engraved by Dunker, in the Galerie Choiseul [199].10 The composition is very lively: eight or ten hunters and a woman on horseback are scattered in a beautiful landscape. Some other figures of men, women, and children. This is one of the most distinguished. Signed with the double monogram, without the S.11
"No. 332. A peasant fight."[200]12 They are fighting, men and women, in front of a house. In the distance is a fairground. Despite its size, 2 feet high and 2 feet 8 inches wide, only 600 guilders was paid for this painting at the Van der Pot auction: signed as the previous one.
" No. 333. A peasant with a white horse"[201].13 This is an excellent example by the master. The white horse, ridden by a rider, stands in the center; with a jerk, he has just knocked over a woman carrying a basket of apples; another rider, on a dark brown horse, gallops to the left under tall trees; to the right, a stablehand holds a roan horse by the bridle, with a hue tending toward lilac. A lady and a gentleman watch the horses being trained. Powerful tone, beautiful execution. Signed with the double monogram, with the S. Auction of the widow Boreel, 1814, Amsterdam, 2,825 guilders. Height 1 foot 3 inches; width 1 foot 1 inch. On panel.
"No. 334. Landscape with deer hunting" [202].14 Four hunters and a woman, on horseback; in the foreground, ...
199
Balthasar Anton Dunker after Philips Wouwerman
Hilly landscape with a falcon hunt, 1771 (dated)
The Hague, RKD – Nederlands Institute for Art History (Collection Old Netherlandish Art), inv./cat.nr. BD/0676 - ONS/Original Prints (by inventor)
200
Philips Wouwerman
Peasants Fighting near a Village, c. 1646
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv./cat.nr. SK-A-476
201
Philips Wouwerman
The Bucking Grey, c. 1660-c. 1665
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv./cat.nr. SK-A-483
202
Philips Wouwerman
Stag hunt, c. 1655-1656
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv./cat.nr. SK-A-480
130 MUSEUM OF AMSTERDAM.
... the dogs seize the deer. A little stream on the left; ruins in the distance. Approximately 1 square foot. Signed. Auction J. de Wit, 1741, 234 guilders; Lormier, 1763, 1,010 guilders; N. Nieuhoff, 1777, 1,995 guilders.
"No. 335. A riding school" [203].15 A rather large composition, on canvas 2 feet wide. In the center a rider in blue on a gray speckled horse, seen from the rear. On the left, another man is training a horse to jump and a woman with her child in her arms flees to avoid the stampede; on the right, a stablehand leads a horse out of the stable. Signed with the double monogram (1).
Finally, "No. 336.16 A Landscape",17 very small, with a few little figures.
From Pieter Wouwerman, brother of Philips, only one painting: Taking the besieged city of Coevorden, in 1672, signed: P W [204].18
By Emmanuel Murant, 1622-1700, a pupil of Philips: A ruined rural house [205].19
By Van Huchtenburgh, a pupil of Philips, in the second degree: A Cavalry Fight.20
I add here, because I don't know where else to classify it: a Waiting Room with Soldiers, by Jan Le Ducq [206].21 This ...
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(1) In the facsimile of the new cat. the signature is rather unusual: the first monogram of the first name, formed by the P and the H, is followed by a p, before Philip's second p; then comes the usual W.
203
Philips Wouwerman
A Riding School, c. 1658 - c. 1660
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv./cat.nr. SK-A-477
204
Pieter Wouwerman (II)
Assault on the town of Coevorden, 30 December 1672, 1672-1682
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv./cat.nr. SK-A-486
205
Emanuel Murant
Landscape with collapsed house
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv./cat.nr. SK-A-281
206
Jacob Duck
Soldiers in a stable, c. 1655
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv./cat.nr. SK-A-93
Notes
1 Joost van Geel and Michiel van Musscher are considered to have been pupils of Gabriel Metsu. Thoré missed a painting of the former, which was already in the Rijksmuseum when he wrote his book: Joost van Geel, Self Portrait, c. 1670-1689, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-A115 (on loan to the Rotterdam Museum). Van Musscher was not (yet) represented at the Rijksmuseum.
2 The Hermitage website now lists 52 paintings by or after Philips Wouwerman; Dresden shows 35 paintings related to him, including missing and deaccessioned ones (both accessed 11 July 2025).
3 The 3 paintings at the Museum Van der Hoop are discussed in: Thoré 1858-1860, vol. 2 (1860), p. 96-98; the 9 at the Mauritshuis in: vol. 1, p. 258-262; the 3 Rotterdam ones in Thoré 1858-1860, vol. 2 (1860), p. 274-275.
4 In Smith's œuvre catalogues, there are indeed 522 entries listed under 'Philip Wouwermans': Smith 1829-1842, vol. 1 (1829), p. 199-354. In the 1842 supplement there are another 272 entries, some of which are improvements of those in the first volume (in which case double counting occurs): vol. 9 (1842), p. 137-232. The most recent catalogue raisonné lists 572 authentic paintings, 74 questionable attributions, 185 rejected paintings, and lost from public collections another 30 (Schumacher 2006).
5 Coup de Pistolet: Cavalry at a Sutler’s Booth, c. 1650-1659, Hampton Court Palace – Royal Collection Trust, inv. no. RCIN 404615. Chariot de Foin: probably The Hay Wagon, after c. 1650, The Hague, Mauritshuis, inv. no. 218. Marché aux Chevaux: probably The Horse Fair, late 1660s, London, The Wallace Collection, inv. no. P65.
6 Philips Wouwerman, Blacksmith Shoeing a Horse, c. 1652-1655, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-A-478; Smith 1829-1842 , vol. 1 (1829), p. 333, no. 452; Aanwijzing 1853, p. 31, no. 328, Wouwerman (Philip; 1620-1668), Een bergachtig Landschap, waarin een Paard beslagen wordt (A mountainous Landscape, in which a Horse is shod) (tax.: fl. 5,000); Amsterdam 1858, p. 165, no. 366.
7 Philips Wouwerman, Horsepond near a Boundary Stone, c. 1651-1654, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-A-485; Smith 1829-1842, vol. 1 (1829), p. 333, no. 453; vol. 9 (1842), p. 228, no. 261; Aanwijzing 1853, p. 31, no. 329, Wouwerman (Philip; 1620-1668), Een als voren [bergachtig Landschap], met Paarden naar het wed geleid wordende (One as before [mountainous Landscape], with Horses being led to the ford (tax.: fl. 4,000); Amsterdam 1858, p. 167-168, no. 371. Interestingly, during the Batavian Republic in the Netherlands (1795-1806), this painting was chosen to be reproduced in print by Reinier Vinkeles for the series Batavian Art-Gallery with reproductions of paintings from the Nationale Konst-gallerij in The Hague (see: Bergvelt 1998, p. 51-53): Reinier Vinkeles, Het Paardewed, 1803-1805, etching and engraving, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. RP-P-OB-66.088.
8 Philips Wouwerman, The Victory of the Peasants, c. 1665, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-A-482; Smith 1829-1842, vol. 1 (1829), p. 269, no. 246; Aanwijzing 1853, p. 31, no. 330, Wouwerman (Philip; 1620-1668), Eene Dorpsplundering, waar de boeren het krijgsvolk overmeesteren (A village plundering, where the peasants overpower the soldiers (tax.: fl. 20,000); Amsterdam 1858, p. 167, no. 370.
9 Philips Wouwerman, The Falcon Hunt, c. 1658-1660, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-A-481; Smith 1829-1842, vol.1 (1829), p. 230, no. 100; Aanwijzing 1853, p. 31, no. 331, Wouwerman (Philip; 1620-1668), Een Reigersjagt (A Heron Hunt) (tax.: fl. 2,000); Amsterdam 1858, p. 166-167, no. 369.
10 Balthasar Anton Dunker, Hilly Landscape with a Falcon Hunt, 1771, The Hague, RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History.
11 According to Wuestman 2022: monogrammed lower right: 'PHiLs W' (the letters of the first name in ligature).
12 Philips Wouwerman, Peasants Fighting near a Village, c. 1646, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-A-476; Smith 1829-1842, vol. 1 (1829), p. 278, no. 285; Aanwijzing 1853, p. 31, no. 332, Wouwerman (Philip; 1620-1668), Een Boerengevecht (A Peasant Fight) (tax.: fl. 2,000); Amsterdam 1858, p. 164, no. 364.
13 Philips Wouwerman, The Bucking Grey, c. 1660-1665, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-A-483; Smith 1829-1842, vol. 1 (1829), p. 332, no. 450; Aanwijzing 1853, p. 31, no. 333, Wouwerman (Philip; 1620-1668), Een Landschap, met een achteruitslaand wit Paard (A Landscape, with a white Horse that kicks back) (tax.: fl. 7,000); Amsterdam 1858, p. 168, no. 372.
14 Philips Wouwerman, The Stag Hunt, c. 1655-1656, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-A-480; Smith 1829-1842, vol. 1 (1829), p. 332, no. 449; vol. 9, p. 211-212, no. 215; Aanwijzing 1853, p. 31, no. 334, Wouwerman (Philip; 1620-1668), Een als voren [Landschap], met een Hertenjagt (One as before [Landscape], with a Deer Hunt (tax.: fl. 2,000); Amsterdam 1858, p. 166, no. 368.
15 Philips Wouwerman, A Riding School, c. 1658-1660, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-A-477; Smith 1829-1842, vol. 1 (1829), p. 333, no. 454; Aanwijzing 1853, p. 31, no. 335, Wouwerman (Philip; 1620-1668), Eene Rijdschool (A riding school) (tax.: fl. 7,000); Amsterdam 1858, p. 164-165, no. 365.
16 Handwritten in the margins: '367 new'.
17 Philips Wouwerman, Dune Landscape with a Signal Post, c. 1651-1653, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-A-479; Smith 1829-1842, vol. 1 (1829), p. 332, no. 451; Aanwijzing 1853, p. 31, no. 336, Wouwerman (Philip; 1620-1668), Een Landschapje (A Little Landscape) (tax.: fl. 1,000); Amsterdam 1858, p. 166, no. 367. According to Thoré-Bürger, this painting dates from Wouwerman's first period, see his notes opp. p. 1 (2/3).
18 Pieter Wouwerman, Assault on the Town of Coevorden, December 30, 1672, c. 1672-1682, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-A-486; Aanwijzing 1853, p. 31, no. 337, Wouwerman (Pieter), Het innemen van de belegerde stad Coevorden, in 1672 (The taking of the besieged town of Coevorden, in 1672) (tax.: fl. 500); Amsterdam 1858, p. 169, no. 373.
19 Emanuel Murant, Farmhouse in ruins, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-A-281; Aanwijzing 1853, p. 19, no. 192, Murand (Emanuel; 1622-1700), The Bouwval van eene Boerenwoning (The Ruin of a Farmhouse) (tax.: fl. 200); Amsterdam 1858, p. 96, no. 214.
20 Jan van Huchtenburg, Cavalry Attack, c. 1680-1700, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-A-184; Aanwijzing 1853, p. 15, no. 137, Huchtenburg (Johan van; 1646-1733), Een Ruiterijgevecht (A Cavalry Fight) (tax.: fl. 300); Amsterdam 1858, p. 71, no. 152.
21 Jacob Duck, Soldiers in a Stable, c. 1655, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-A-93; Aanwijzing 1853, p. 9, no. 71, Ducq (Jean le), Eene Wachtkamer met krijgslieden (A Waiting Room with Warriors) (tax.: fl. 800); Amsterdam 1858, p. 32-33, no. 71.