Philips Wouwermans

The White Horse

oil on canvas
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

The White Horse, Philips Wouwermans

Philips WOUWERMANS
Haarlem 1619 - Haarlem 1668

Born in Haarlem and baptized on 24 May 1619, the son or a painter, Philips Wouwermans was one or the most prolific and successful painters or his century. He specialized in small paintings of horses in landscapes, especially on dunes and beaches. He is said to have been the pupil of Fran Hals, but his works do not confirm this. His style was much more influenced by the Italianate painter Pieter van Laer, who returned to Haarlem in 1638. Wouwermans is said to have run away to Hamburg to marry when he was nineteen. However, he became a member of the guild in Haarlem a year or two later, in 1640, and appears to have spent the rest of his life there. He was very successful and left his daughter a dowry or 20,000 guilders. He died in Raarlem on 19 May 1668.

from:
John Nash, The Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer, London, 1972