In front of an inn
(c. 1644-1645)
Medium
oil on wood panel
Measurements
50.5 × 44.3 cm
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Felton Bequest, 1933
Gallery location
Not on display
About this work
In 1679 the German artist Matthias Schits observed that ‘the ingenious painter Philips Wouwerman of Haarlem, whose father was a bad painter, achieved renown at an early age’. Wouwerman joined the Haarlem painters’ Guild of Saint Luke at the age of twenty-one in 1640, at a time of great prosperity in this Dutch city. Active in civic life, he was a member of the Saint George militia company, which was tasked with firefighting as well as defence; and he supplemented his income as an artist through property speculation. In this early ‘rider halt’ composition, where Wouwerman has not yet developed his later mastery at depicting horses, a small white bird and its coop provide a grace note above a wayside inn.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Haarlem, the Netherlands
Inscription
inscribed in brown paint l.r.: PH.W (monogram)
Accession Number
4730-3
Department
International Painting
This digital record has been made available on NGV Collection Online through the generous support of Digitisation Champion Dame Carol Colburn-Grigor CBE through Metal Manufactures Limited
Subjects (general)
Daily Life Human Figures Landscapes
Subjects (specific)
dog (species) horse (species) hunters (people) inns (built works) livestock roads rural areas