This early 20th-century oil painting by German artist Wilhelm Schreuer (1866-1933) depicts several horseback riders at ‘full gallop’ hurtling along a dust track. Schreuer was an ingenious figure painter who exhibited extensively in Düsseldorf and Cologne.
Energy, immediacy, and the sound of galloping hooves. It’s palpable and enough to set one’s heart racing amid a cloud of disrupted dust. How does an artist capture such movement with a few deft marks and a muted palette? It was Schreuer’s raison d’etre.
Born in Wesel, Germany, his early tuition was undertaken by his father, a baker, but also a keen amateur artist. As a result, he developed an aptitude for drawing from a young age and was soon admitted into the renowned Düsseldorf Art Academy. Here, he trained under Heinrich Lauenstein, Hugo Crola and, later, Johann Peter Theodor Janssen as a master student.
As a progressive, many of his works utilised an unusual technique involving diluting colours onto damp paper. This made it virtually impossible to correct errors but gave them an interesting sheen, almost akin to glass. The results were captivating.
During WWI, he served as a war artist and produced some of his most striking works. His portrayals of soldiers are far from propaganda and, instead, convey the realities of fearful young men faced with the horrors of combat. Regardless of the subject, he could always capture tension. In many of these depictions, we’re left to wonder what happened next, as if the image could somehow become animated and play out in front of us.
It appears he had a certain affinity with horses as he often painted them. However, unlike many of his peers, rather than capture them standing in a docile fashion, he preferred to describe every aching sinew, often with the horse working or galloping at full tilt. He spent time observing the Prussian Calvary and also the Csikós horsemen of Hungary’s Puszta.
He represented in numerous public collections including at the Westphalian State Museum of Art, Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, and Stadtmuseum Landeshauptstadt Düsseldorf.
Monogrammed in the lower right and held within a later frame.
Learn more about Wilhelm Schreuer in our directory.
Medium: Oil on paper laid on board
Overall size: 28½” x 20½” / 72cm x 52cm
Year of creation: c. 1905
Labels & Inscriptions: Inscribed on the reverse. Refers to Leo Pauly, the Düsseldorf-based art dealer.
Provenance: With Leo Pauly Kunsthandlung, Düsseldorf, Germany / Private collection, Norway.
Condition: Artwork very presentable. Frame in good condition with minor age-related wear.
Artist’s auction maximum: £14,829 for ‘Coffee Party in Front of the Hofgärtnerhaus in Düsseldorf’, Oil on paper, Karbstein Peter, Düsseldorf, Germany, 28 March 1990 (lot 77/a).
Our reference: BRV2099
