Philips Wouwerman Haarlem 1619 - 1668

Believed to have been in the Hoeken Collection, The Hague, before 1740 (according to Smith and Hofstede de Groot, although not included in the 1742 sale);
In the collection of Pierre Crozat, Baron de Thiers (1665 - 1740), Paris, before 1740;
By descent to his nephew Louis-Antoine Crozat, Baron de Thiers (1700 - 1770), Paris, presumably soon after 1740;
Acquired by Catherine the Great for The Russian Imperial Collections by 1774 and probably in 1772 on the purchase of the Crozat Collection;
Until sold by the Soviet Government in 1933 through Galerie Diemen, Berlin;
Probably some time thereafter in the collection of the Tronchin or Tronchin de l'Oriol Family, of Neufchâtel, Breme (their wax seal adhered to the reverse);
With Edward Speelman, London;
From whom acquired by the late father of the present owners in 1961.

Catalogue des tableaux du Cabinet de M. Crozat, Baron de Thiers, Paris 1755, p. 68;
F. Tronchin, Inventaire des Tableaux du Baron de Thiers, Paris 1772, cat. no. 245 (handwritten manuscript housed in the library of the University of Geneva);
J. Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné…, vol. I, London 1829, p. 304, no. 362;
J. Moyreau, Oeuvres de Philippe Wouwermans gravées d’après ses meilleurs tableaux dans les plus beaux cabinets de Paris et d’ailleurs, Paris 1737-62 (new ed., Paris 1843), no. 85;
P. Lacroix, "Catalogue de Tableaux qui se trouvent dans les Galleries et des Cabinets du Palais Impérial à Saint Petersbourg, selon un catalogue de 1774", in Revue Universelle des Arts, vol. XIII, XIV, XV, Paris 1861-62, cat. no. 2070; 
A. Somof, Ermitage Impérial – catalogue de la Galerie des Tableaux, art II, St. Petersburg 1901, pp. 484-5, no. 1031;
C. Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné…, vol. II, London 1909, p. 421, no. 549;
M. Stuffmann, "Les Tableaux de la collection de Pierre Crozat", in Gazette des Beaux-Arts, vol. 72, Paris 1968, p. 108, cat. no. 417.

Engraved
Jacques Philippe Le Bas (1707 - 1783), in 1757.

This particularly fine example of the work of Philips Wouwerman enjoys a highly distinguished provenance, having been acquired by Catherine the Great in around 1772-74 for the Russian Imperial Collections, from the illustrious collection of Baron Crozat, in Paris.

The painting can be dated to around 1653, or a little earlier, and belongs to the middle period of the artist's career. Works from this date are distinguished by a silvery bluish tonality to the landscape and a slightly southern atmosphere, clearly visible in the present work. The form of the monogram employed by the artist (PHiLS W) is consistent with paintings produced after 1646, replacing the earlier type comprised solely of the letters P H W.

This hunting scene was for a long time associated with a supposed pendant, representing The Return of the Hawking Party, which shares the same early provenance and remains today in the Hermitage, Saint Petersburg. Dr. Birgit Schumacher however believes the Hermitage picture to post-date the present work by around ten years and as such, despite the similar size, format and subject matter, discounts the possibility of it having been conceived as the companion piece.

Like many of Wouwerman's finest works, the present painting was in a private collection in France during the mid-18th century. It was acquired by the French treasurer, financier and celebrated connoisseur Pierre Crozat (1665 - 1740) who assembled a vast collection of some 19,000 old master drawings and a small number of paintings. On his death the drawings were sold but the paintings passed to his nephew Louis-Antoine Crozat, Baron de Thiers (1700 - 1770), who expanded the collection, principally in the field of Dutch and Flemish painting. In 1772, two years after his death, the entire collection, which comprised more than four hundred paintings, was bought by Catherine the Great for the Russian Imperial collections.  There the present picture was to remain until 1933, when it was sold through Galerie Diemen, Berlin, as part of a systematic disposal of some 2,880 paintings from the Hermitage Collection by the Soviet Government during the years 1928-33.

The present painting was engraved by the famous Parisian engraver Jacques Philippe Le Bas whilst in the collection of Louis-Antoine Crozat, in Paris, and was published by Jean Moyreau (1690 - 1762) in his celebrated book of 89 engravings after paintings by Wouwerman, titled Oeuvres de Philippe Wouwermans gravées d'après ses meilleurs tableaux dans les plus beaux cabinets de Paris et d'ailleurs.

We are grateful to Dr. Birgit Schumacher for endorsing the attribution to Philips Wouwerman, on the basis of a photograph, and for suggesting a date of execution circa 1653 or a little earlier. The painting will be included in her forthcoming catalogue raisonné under no. A133.