Karel Dujardin, Dutch, 1626-1678
Title: The Riding School
Date: 1678
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions:
60.2 x 73.5 cm
Signed: lower left: .DV. Jardin .f. Roma. 1678.
Credit Line: Purchased, 1903
Object Number: NGI.544
DescriptionA youth leads an Arabian stallion by the bridle. Since the picture's auction in 1895, the scene has been identified as an Italian riding school. The building with scroll volutes and cypresses beyond the walled enclosure support this. Dujardin's unusual composition and the dramatically let red cloak and horse's head, set against low, brooding clouds, makes this one of his most compelling later works. It is the last dated picture by the artist.
Dujardin is said to have studied with the landscape artist Nicolaes Berchem, and was certainly influenced by him. He may have visited Rome around 1650 before working mainly in Amsterdam.
His work encompasses Italianate landscapes, scenes with animals, portraits, religious works and history paintings; he also executed about 50 engravings. He was in Italy from 1675 until his death. During this time his brilliant colouring and rich textures were replaced by more abrupt contrasts of light and forms, with heavier application of brushwork as on this heavy-weave canvas.
Dujardin is said to have studied with the landscape artist Nicolaes Berchem, and was certainly influenced by him. He may have visited Rome around 1650 before working mainly in Amsterdam.
His work encompasses Italianate landscapes, scenes with animals, portraits, religious works and history paintings; he also executed about 50 engravings. He was in Italy from 1675 until his death. During this time his brilliant colouring and rich textures were replaced by more abrupt contrasts of light and forms, with heavier application of brushwork as on this heavy-weave canvas.
ProvenanceBicker and Wykersloot, Amsterdam, 19 July 1809, Sale, lot 24, bt. Coclers; Amsterdam, 7 August 1811, L.B. Coclers sale, lot 34, bought in, Roos; Amsterdam, 8 April 1816, L.B. Coclers sale, lot 54, bt. J. de Vries; Paris, 14 April 1817, Lapeyriere sale, lot 24; London, 22 June 1895, Henry Doetsch sale, lot 414, bt. McLean; purchased, Forbes & Patterson, London, 1903
Exhibition HistoryNederlandse 17e Eeuwse Italianiserende Landschapschilders, Centraal Museum, Utrecht, 1965
Dutch Paintings of Golden Age from the Collection of the National Gallery of Ireland, Charles W. Bowers Memorial Museum, Santa Ana, California; Midland Arts Council, Midland, Michigan; Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina; Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, Florida; IBM Gallery, New York, 1987
Dutch Paintings of Golden Age from the Collection of the National Gallery of Ireland, Charles W. Bowers Memorial Museum, Santa Ana, California; Midland Arts Council, Midland, Michigan; Mint Museum, Charlotte, North Carolina; Center for the Fine Arts, Miami, Florida; IBM Gallery, New York, 1987
Label TextA young man leads an Arabian stallion by the bridle. The setting is an Italian riding school, as suggested by the building with scroll volutes and cypresses beyond the walled enclosure. The unusual composition and the dramatically lit red cloak, set against low, brooding clouds, makes this one of Dujardin's most compelling works. The Dutch painter Dujardin is known for his Italianate landscapes, which he painted throughout his career. He may have been to Italy early in the 1640s, but there is no evidence to confirm this. In 1675, Dujardin definitely travelled to Rome, where he completed this painting in the year of his death.
