Jan van Huchtenburg’s, etching of a horse after Adam François van der Meulen

Jan van Huchtenburg (aka Johan van Hughtenburgh; Jan Huchtenburgh; Johannes van Hugtenberg) (1647–1733)

“A Fallen Horse Seen from the Rear” (Un autre cheval tombé sur le ventre, vu presque par derrière), 1662–90, after a study by Adam François van der Meulen (1632–90) and published by van der Meulen, from the series of ten plates: “Horses Wounded in Battle.”

Etching on fine laid paper trimmed at the platemark and lined on a conservator’s support sheet

Size: (sheet) 18 x 26.1cm; (image borderline) 17 x 25.3 cm

Lettered in the lower margin: (left) "F V. Meulen pinx. et ex. cum priuil. Regis" and (right) "V. HB. fe."

State i (of ii ?) without the painter's name in the middle of the lower margin of the second state

Weigel 1843 318.38 (Weigel, Rudolph, Suppléments au Peintre-Graveur de Adam Bartsch, Vol.I, Leipzig, Rudolph Weigel, 1843); Hollstein 38.II (Hollstein, F W H, Dutch and Flemish etchings, engravings and woodcuts c.1450-1700, Amsterdam, 1949); Bartsch V.424.38 (Bartsch, Adam, Le Peintre graveur, 21 vols, Vienna, 1803); Bartsch 7 (1978, p. 255) 38 (424).

The British Museum offers the following description of this print in its 2^nd state:

“A fallen horse on its knees, seen from the back and slightly turned to the left; from a series of ten studies of horses wounded in a battle, after van der Meulen; second state, with painter's name in the middle of the lower margin Etching” (http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3033382&partId=1&searchText=Meulen+horse&page=1)

Condition: richly inked and well-printed lifetime impression, trimmed at, or slightly within, the platemark and lined on a conservator’s support sheet of fine washi paper. There are significant fold marks that have been flatten, light surface soiling and a small loss at the lower-right corner.

I am selling this visually arresting and exceptionally rare lifetime impression by one of the famous masters of the Dutch Golden Age, van Huchtenberg—pupil of Thomas Wyck and the travelling companion of Genoels and Boudewyns—for AU$156 (currently US$116.99/EUR110.03/GBP96.06 at the time of this listing) including postage and handling to anywhere in the world.

If you are interested in purchasing this stunning masterwork from the 17^th century, please contact me (oz_jim@printsandprinciples.com) and I will send you a PayPal invoice to make the payment easy.

This print has been sold

Jan van Huchtenburg, like his brother Jacob, were fascinated by horses. This is not surprising seeing that Jacob was trained under the great Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem (1620–83)—famous for his landscapes populated with farm animals—and Jan was trained under Thomas Wijck (1616/24–77)—famous for his insightful views of everyday life.

This graphically strong etching of a horse is a part of a series of ten prints featuring images of horses wounded in battle. From a personal standpoint, I have difficulty in looking at animals that have been injured, but with this particular print I don’t have a problem as I don’t really see a horse but rather a mountain that happens to be a horse. What I especially like about this portrayed horse-mountain are the curved contour marks that describe every nook and cranny of its musculature. For me, these strokes appear like van Huchtenburg is literally feeling and stroking the horse. Moreover, with the low angle of view that van Huchtenberg drew the horse (after the original design by van der Meulen), I feel invited to also explore its contours with my eyes—just a shame that my exploration has to begin at its backside.