A Farrier's Shop

1648

Paulus Potter

Artist, Dutch, 1625 - 1654

Two men hold the mouth of a horse open to work on its teeth as a third, short boy or man looks on in front of a building to our left, where a blacksmith works in this vertical painting. All the people have peach-colored skin. A dark horse with a white stripe down its nose stands in a small, shed-like enclosure covered with a peaked roof, which is attached to the brick blacksmith’s shop. A balding man with a white beard and fringe of white hair, and wearing glasses, a tattered crimson-red shirt, and dark pants, holds a long, rod-like instrument in the horse’s gaping mouth. A hat lies on the ground near his feet. The man next to him is cleanshaven and wears a tall hat, a dark jacket with red sleeves, and dark pants and boots. He stands facing the horse with his mouth and eyes wide open. The horse’s nose is caught in long-handled, vice-like tongs, presumably to make the horse show its teeth. A noticeably shorter man or boy stands behind the pair, to our right, and looks on. He wears a tall, floppy hat, and his dark clothes are worn. His face is deep in shadow under the hat but he might have a mustache and beard. A white horse stands with its rump angled toward us behind the trio. Almost lost in shadow, a wide-shouldered man works on a hot piece of metal, glowing orange, next to a fire just inside the doorway to the building. Charcoal-gray smoke pours from a chimney on the roof. One dog lies down in front of the door and another frolics nearby. A chicken and a rooster peck at the dirt ground to our right. The horizon of the tree-lined landscape comes about a quarter of the way up the composition, and cream-colored, puffy clouds float across a blue sky above. Two people stands near a cow in the deep distance, near the trees.

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Farriers—blacksmiths who shoe horses—also served as veterinarians before that became a specialized profession. As the teeth of horses continue to grow throughout their lives, uneven wear leads to chewing problems, which in turn result in improper digestion and eventual malnutrition. As a remedy, farriers file down, or "float," the teeth, as seen in this painting of a terrified horse undergoing such a procedure.

A Farrier’s Shop, signed and dated "Paulus Potter f. 1648" on the lintel above the blacksmith’s forge, is an exceptional achievement for an artist only twenty-three years old. In a daring interplay of indoor and outdoor light effects, Potter contrasts the sparks flying from the red-hot forge inside the workshop with the sunshine streaming through the clouds and the morning fog lingering over the meadow.

Paulus Potter was trained by his father and quickly gained fame for his superb depictions of animal anatomy and psychology. He was a keen observer who never left the house without a small sketchbook in his pocket so that he could record interesting things he saw on his walks. Potter moved frequently, working in Delft, The Hague, and Amsterdam, where he died at age twenty-eight. He was a tireless worker who in his short life produced a considerable number of highly regarded paintings of animals in farmyards and fields.

On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 50-C

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on panel

  • Credit Line

    Widener Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 48.3 x 45.7 cm (19 x 18 in.)
    framed: 71.12 × 68.58 × 7.62 cm (28 × 27 × 3 in.)

  • Accession

    1942.9.52

More About this Artwork

Scholarly Article:  Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century: A Farrier's Shop, 1648

This horizontal painting shows a group of eight light-skinned musicians and onlookers gathered closely around a rectangular, carpet-covered table. The front edge of the table runs parallel to the bottom edge of the painting, and seems close to us. Shown from about the waist up, the men and women’s vivid lapis-blue, coral-red, buttercup-yellow, lilac-purple, and moss-green garments fall in crisp folds. Bright reflections on the fabric suggest a satin-like material. Two women wear feathers in their hair and one man’s hat is plumed. One man, wearing crimson red and black, sits with his back to us to our left on the near side of the table. He holds the neck of a bass viol, about the size of a cello, with his left hand, and points to pages of an open music book with the bow in his right hand. The other people cluster on the far side of the table. A man to the left plays a violin; a woman at the center plays a guitar-sized bandora, and a woman to our right plays a lute. The musicians, along with a man who leans over the table from between the two women, look down at the music books. A young man behind the woman at the center holds up a glass of pale liquid with his right hand as he touches his left forefinger to his smiling lips. A man and woman stand close together in the background to our right, in the top right corner of the canvas.

Scholarly Series:  Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Dominique Bertrand Clemens, Ghent; (his sale, Salle de la Confrerie de Saint George, Ghent, 23 September 1777 and days following, no. 49; bought in). his brother, Jacques Clemens, canon of St. Bavo's Cathedral [1713-1779], Ghent; (his sale, Maison Mortuaire, Ghent, 21 June 1779 and days following, no. 212); Neijman, Amsterdam. Johan Philip de Monté, Utrecht; his widow; (her sale, A. Lamme, Rotterdam, 4-5 July 1825, no. 1); (Lambert Jean Nieuwenhuys, Brussels).[1] Comte François-Alexandre-Charles Perregaux [1791-1837], Paris; (his estate sale, Galerie Le Brun, Paris, 8-9 December 1841, no. 26); George. Madame Autran, Marseille, by 1867. (Charles Sedelmeyer, Paris), in 1898. M. Rodolphe Kann [d. 1905], Paris and Marseilles, by 1900; purchased 1907 with the entire Kann collection by (Duveen Brothers, Inc., London, New York, and Paris); sold 1909 to Peter A.B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; gift 1942 to NGA.
[1] An annotated copy of the De Monté sale catalogue states that Nieuwenhuys purchased the picture for 7,100 guilders. For a discussion of the sale and L.J. Nieuwenhuys' purchase of the work, see Charles J. Nieuwenhuys, A Review of the Lives and Works of Some of the Most Eminent Painters, London, 1834, 186-188.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1908

  • Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters and Deceased Masters of the British School. Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1908, no. 66.

1994

  • The Pleasures of Paulus Potter's Countryside, Mauritshuis, The Hague, 1994-1995, no. 13, repro. (catalogue titled Paulus Potter: Paintings, drawings and etchings, by Amy Walsh, Edwin Buijsen, and Ben Broos).

2015

  • Class Distinctions: Dutch Painting in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, Kansas City, 2015-2016, no. 52, repro.

Bibliography

1829

  • Smith, John. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters. 9 vols. London, 1829-1842: 5(1834):144, no. 63.

1834

  • Nieuwenhuys, Charles J. A Review of the Lives and Works of Some of the Most Eminent Painters. London, 1834: 186-188.

1857

  • Blanc, Charles. Le trésor de la curiosité. 2 vols. Paris, 1857–1858: 2(1858):448.

1867

  • Westrheene Wz., Tobias van. Paulus Potter: sa vie et ses oeuvres. The Hague, 1867: 178, no. 22.

1898

  • Sedelmeyer, Charles. Illustrated Catalogue of 300 Paintings by Old Masters of the Dutch, Flemish, Italian, French, and English schools, being some of the principal pictures which have at various time formed part of the Sedelmeyer Gallery. Paris, 1898: no. 108, repro.

1907

  • Sedelmeyer, Charles. Catalogue of Rodolphe Kann Collection. 2 vols. Paris, 1907: 1:viii, repro. 64, 65.

  • Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century. 8 vols. Translated by Edward G. Hawke. London, 1907-1927: 4(1912):654, no. 154.

  • Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten holländischen Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts. 10 vols. Esslingen and Paris, 1907-1928: 4(1911):679, no. 154.

1908

  • "The Farrier's Shop by Paul Potter." Connoisseur 20 (March 1908): 20, cover repro.

  • Royal Academy of Arts. Exhibition of works by the old masters, and by deceased masters of the British School, including a collection of water colours. Exh. cat. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1908: 19, no. 66.

1913

  • Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis, and Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Pictures in the collection of P. A. B. Widener at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania: Early German, Dutch & Flemish Schools. Philadelphia, 1913: unpaginated, repro.

1923

  • Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1923: unpaginated, repro.

1931

  • Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1931: 98, repro.

1932

  • Arps-Aubert, Rudolf von. Die Entwicklung des reinen Tierbildes in der Kunst des Paulus Potter. Halle, 1932: 37, no. 28.

1938

  • Waldmann, Emil. "Die Sammlung Widener." Pantheon 22 (November 1938): 338.

1942

  • National Gallery of Art. Works of art from the Widener collection. Washington, 1942: 6.

1948

  • National Gallery of Art. Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. Washington, 1948 (reprinted 1959): ix, 54, repro.

1965

  • National Gallery of Art. Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. Washington, 1965: 104.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 92, repro.

1975

  • National Gallery of Art. European paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. Washington, 1975: 274, repro.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 291, no. 380, color repro., as by Paul Potter.

1985

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. Washington, 1985: 317, repro.

  • Walsh, Amy L. "Paulus Potter: His works and their meaning." Ph.D. dissertation, Columbia University, New York, 1985: 215-222, 228, 291, 338-339, 417, repro.

1986

  • Sutton, Peter C. A Guide to Dutch Art in America. Washington and Grand Rapids, 1986: 306.

1990

  • Sutton, Peter C. Northern European Paintings in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Philadelphia, 1990: 240, repro.

1994

  • Walsh, Amy L., Edwin Buijsen, and Ben P. J. Broos. Paulus Potter: Paintings, drawings, and etchings. Exh. cat. Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague. Zwolle, 1994: 33, 92-94, no. 13, repro.

1995

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1995: 198-200, color repro. 199.

  • Buijsen, Edwin. "Het Paard in de Mond Gekeken: Een veterinaire kijk op de schilderijen van Paulus Potter." Mauritshuis in Focus 8 (May 1995): 24-26, fig.12.

2001

  • Liedtke, Walter A., Michiel Plomp, and Axel Rüger. Vermeer and the Delft school. Exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; National Gallery, London. New Haven, 2001: 332-334, fig. 268.

Inscriptions

center left in transom frame above doorway: paulus potter f. 1648

Wikidata ID

Q20177239

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