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Lot Essay
Greatly influenced by the 17th century Dutch master Philip Wouwermans, whose subject matter and style he emulated, Wouterus Verschuur studied in Holland under Pieter Gerardus van Os and Cornelis Steffelaar. Awarded the prestigious Felix Meritis prize in 1831 and again in 1832 he became a member of the Royal Academy of Amsterdam in 1833.
Specialising in rustic depictions of stables and farmyards, inns and country roads, Verschuur sets his tableaux of animals and figures in dramatically lit interiors or against romantic rural landscapes. He attained great recognition as a talented painter of horses and did much to perpetuate the tradition of this particular branch of animal painting. In the present work, the human element lends narrative weight but the composition is, essentially, dominated by the interaction between the animals and Verschuur's carefully observed depiction of the scene.
Specialising in rustic depictions of stables and farmyards, inns and country roads, Verschuur sets his tableaux of animals and figures in dramatically lit interiors or against romantic rural landscapes. He attained great recognition as a talented painter of horses and did much to perpetuate the tradition of this particular branch of animal painting. In the present work, the human element lends narrative weight but the composition is, essentially, dominated by the interaction between the animals and Verschuur's carefully observed depiction of the scene.