A Horse being Shod outside a Village Smithy

Artist: Philips Wouwerman (Dutch, 1619 - 1668)

Original Dimensions: 18 1/8" x 24 1/2"

Location: National Gallery of Art, London

About Artwork: (Probably 1640-50) "Philips Wouwerman was an extremely successful painter in the Netherlands in the seventeenth century and was also a favourite in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. His paintings – landscapes with rural scenes being enacted in them – are full of movement, small dramas and incident, capturing the imagination of the viewer. A billowing cloud, its shape and movement echoed in the tree that pierces the sky, sets the busy, almost turbulent, atmosphere. The blacksmith shoeing the white horse raises a strong arm. Around him boys busy themselves with buckets, while the horse’s elegant owner supports its leg. A rider comes up the hill at a pace, while on the right another – and more uncomfortable – procedure is taking place, the horse’s head thrown back and its mouth open. Wouwerman was able to breathe life into the everyday activities and scenes he painted – you can almost sense the noise, the smells and the chill breeze suggested here." - (National Gallery of Art, London)