Wouterus Verschuur (1812-1874), Circle of - White Horse & Dog in a Landscape

A characteristic and atmospheric oil painting (Canvas size: 30.7 x 24.5 cm) of a white grey horse raising one foreleg and attentively regarding a small spotted dog. The composition is typically Romantic: the horse stands centrally in a warm shaft of light, the dog providing a lively counterpart, while the landscape of trees, rocky background and cloudy sky gives the scene depth and atmosphere. The fine rendering of anatomy, the sheen of the coat, the horse’s pose and the vivid interaction between the two animals are hallmarks of the finest 19th-century Dutch animal painting.

On the basis of style, subject, handling, treatment of light and iconography, it is in all probability by Wouterus Verschuur I (Amsterdam 1812 – Vorden 1874), the foremost Dutch horse painter of his generation.
The artist Wouterus (Wouter) Verschuur is the Dutch master of the horse in the Romantic period. Trained by Pieter Gerardus van Os and Cornelis Steffelaar, he intensively studied the 17th-century horse painter Philips Wouwerman. He attracted attention at a young age: gold medals at Felix Meritis (1831–1832), membership of the Royal Academy and of Arti et Amicitiae. His work was appreciated internationally; in 1855 Emperor Napoleon III purchased one of his paintings at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. King William III appointed him Officer in the Order of the Oak Crown.

Verschuur specialised in horses — preferably greys — often combined with dogs. The animal is placed at the centre of the composition, usually in a pool of light, with great attention to anatomy, character and movement. He painted stable interiors, landscapes, resting or working horses, and scenes in which horse and dog meet. His oeuvre comprises an estimated 400 paintings and thousands of drawings. Among his pupils were his son Wouterus Verschuur Jr and Anton Mauve.

Attribution
This painting corresponds closely to the known oeuvre of Verschuur I. He produced several comparable compositions of a grey horse with a dog in a landscape or near a stable. Sometimes a figure or man appears in the background, as in a related work documented at the RKD: https://rkd.nl/imageslite/4198362
The combination of:
the monumentally placed white horse,
the small dog as counterpart,
the Romantic landscape setting,
the warm, slightly muted palette,
the attention to coat, musculature and pose,

is so specific that an attribution to Wouterus Verschuur I is highly plausible. This is not a late imitation or a work by the son: the style is that of the father, the Romantic animal painter par excellence.

Condition
The painting has been relined, cleaned and is in excellent condition. The craquelure is even and consistent with its age; the paint layer is stable. It is presented in a rich, period gilt frame that adds considerably to its presence.

A rare opportunity for collectors of Dutch Romanticism and 19th-century animal painting: a representative, atmospheric and qualitatively strong work that can with great probability be assigned to the oeuvre of Wouterus Verschuur I.