A Riding School in the Open Air

Calraet seems to have trained as a painter with Aelbert Cuyp. Like his master, he slipped into obscurity after his death, only to re-emerge as the result of a misconception, when Cuyp was rediscovered in the 18th century. Calraet signed his paintings with the same initials as his master - A.C. His works were therefore universally assumed to be by Cuyp. Dulwich owns five Calraets - all, until 1953, attributed to the older master. This work has an intimacy and rich colour that owes as much to Philips Wouwermans as to Cuyp. Both Wouwermans and Cuyp painted the theme of the riding school, and Calraet adopted elements of both masters in his own variation on the theme.