HERMAN DONCKER | A YOUNG BOY WITH HIS HORSE

With Kunsthandel S. Nystad, The Hague, 1964;

Anonymous sale, London, Christie’s, 11 June 1971, lot 116;

There acquired by Sikora;

Private collection, Vancouver, Canada.

C. Dumas, In het zadel: het Nederlands ruiterportret van 1550 tot 1900, Netherlands 1979, pp. 23-4 and 105, cat. no. 78, reproduced p. 24, fig. afb 26;

R. Ekkart, Portret van Enkhuizen in de gouden eeuw, Zwolle and Enkhuizen 1990, p. 27, reproduced fig. 37.

F. Laarmann, “Herman Meindertsz. Doncker - Ein origineller Künstler zweiten Ranges” in Oud Holland, vol. 114.1, 2000, pp. 20-21.

R. Ekkart, Facing the Past: A Catalogue of Early Portraiture 1530-1780, London 2011, p. 32;

R. Ekkart, British and European Portraiture 1600-1930, London 2013, unpaginated.

Herman Doncker was born in Hoorn, but moved to Haarlem by 1634, when he joined the Haarlem Saint Luke's Guild. Although Doncker was known to depict merry companies and historical subjects during this period, the core of his oeuvre was portraiture. Between 1635-1641, Doncker moved to Enkhuizen in West Friesland, where most portraits of young boys standing next to miniature horses were painted [1]. His employment of a low vantage point in this composition elevates the sitter and his horse, which rise majestically against a warm Italianate landscape. In addition to the prominent placement of the boy in this painting, the elegant gown he wears alludes to his wealth and status.

1. R. Ekkart, Facing the Past: A Catalogue of Early Portraiture 1530-1780, London 2011, p. 32.