Philips Wouwermans

Peasants playing cards by a white horse in a rocky gully

The reason we like Peasants playing cards by a white horse in a rocky gully by Philips Wouwerman is that it is a ‘Dutch’ scene and not as refined as his later pictures (the ‘French’ taste). The scenery bears no resemblance to the flat polder landscape of Holland, and the ruins at the top of the path also show clearly that Wouwerman intended this scene to radiate an Italianate ambience. The white horse is a klepper, a small, non-thoroughbred horse, a type seen in many of Wouwerman’s paintings. A copy of our painting by Philip’s youngest brother Jan can be found in the Liechtenstein Collection.