This dynamic oil sketch captures the ferocious drama of a boar hunt with remarkable immediacy and energy. The composition centers on a powerful wild boar, rendered in rich browns with vigorous brushwork that conveys both the bristling texture of its coat and the animal's formidable strength. Four hunting dogs—rendered in whites, tans, and black-and-white markings—surround the boar in various states of attack and retreat. One dog leaps at the boar from the left, another confronts it head-on in the foreground, while two others approach from the right. The boar's bared tusks and lowered head signal its determination to defend itself against the pack. Behind this violent encounter, a luminous landscape with a pale blue sky and distant trees provides atmospheric depth, though the action remains firmly anchored in the golden-brown foreground.

The sketch demonstrates Paul de Vos's considerable skill in depicting animals, especially dogs, for which he was particularly renowned. Each hound is characterized individually: the muscular tension of the attacking dog, the open-mouthed aggression of the foreground animal, the cautious approach of those to the right. De Vos has captured not just anatomical accuracy but the psychological drama of the hunt—the dogs' courage tempered by wariness, the boar's cornered ferocity. The fluid, confident brushwork and warm tonalities are characteristic of Flemish oil sketches from this period, where spontaneity and immediacy were valued as records of artistic thinking.

The present delightful oil sketch was probably intended as a preparatory study for a large-scale painting, although it could also have been based on an original—probably now lost—by Frans Snyders. Such sketches served multiple purposes in Baroque workshop practice: they allowed the artist to work out compositional problems, establish the placement of figures, and determine lighting effects before embarking on the labor-intensive production of a large canvas. They might also serve as modelli to show prospective patrons, or as workshop references for assistants executing larger versions. The sketch's execution on paper rather than panel suggests it was a working study, perhaps one of many exploring variations on the boar hunt theme. It is quite similar - especially in the treatment of the dogs - to two other oil sketches by de Vos, now in the Musée des Beaux Arts in Lille. [1] The composition is very close to a drawing of a boar hunt, attributed to Frans Snijders and sold at Christie’s London in 1991. [2]

Paul de Vos was born in Hulst (now in the Dutch province of Zeeland) in 1596 and moved to Antwerp at an early age. Little is known of his childhood. In 1604 he became a pupil of the obscure painter Denijs van Hove in Antwerp. In 1605 de Vos continued his studies under the little-known painter David Remeeus (1559-1626), who worked primarily as a gilder and art dealer and with whom his older brother Cornelis—the famous portrait painter—also trained. He later also trained with the equally obscure Eduard Snayers. In 1620 he joined the Guild of Saint Luke at a rather late age, after having been active for some years in the workshop of Frans Snyders (who married Paul and Cornelis's sister Margaretha in 1611), who hugely influenced de Vos' work. [3] According to the Liggeren (ledgers) of the Guild, de Vos had two pupils: Alex Daemps in 1627 and Lancelot van Daelen in 1636.

De Vos married Isabella Waerbeek, a notary's daughter, on 15 November 1624, and the couple had no fewer than ten children. Peter Paul Rubens was the godfather of one of their sons—named Peter Paul—born in 1628. This connection to Rubens, along with de Vos's family relationship to Frans Snyders through his sister's marriage, placed him at the center of Antwerp's artistic elite. The de Vos family prospered and were able to make important investments in real estate in Antwerp.

De Vos enjoyed the patronage of influential aristocrats in Spain, including the Marquis de Leganés, head of the Council of Flanders in Madrid, and Philippe-Charles, 3rd Count of Arenberg, then residing in Madrid. From the latter he obtained a commission to paint at least 36 paintings of birds, hunts, and fables between 1633 and 1640. In 1637-1638 he worked on decorations for the Spanish royal residences, Buen Retiro and Torre de la Parada. Most of the decorations at the Torre de la Parada involving animal scenes without humans were by his hand. The Governor of the Spanish Netherlands, Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand, visited his workshop, testifying to de Vos's prestigious reputation.

De Vos specialized in animal scenes such as hunting pieces, often executed on a very large scale, which were commissioned by aristocratic patrons to decorate their homes. The hunting scene was a particularly prestigious genre in Baroque art, appealing to aristocratic patrons who valued both the skillful depiction of animals and the subject matter's associations with noble pursuits. De Vos's hunting scenes typically feature the dramatic moment of confrontation between predator and prey or between hunting dogs and their quarry, rendered with dynamic compositions and vivid naturalism.

De Vos collaborated with many of his contemporaries, painting the animals in their landscapes or still-life paintings. Among his most famous collaborators were Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, and Jan Wildens. This collaborative practice was standard in Antwerp's highly specialized artistic economy, where painters developed particular expertise—landscapes, figures, animals, still life—and combined their skills to produce ambitious works. De Vos's reputation as an animal specialist made him a sought-after collaborator, and his contribution to paintings by other masters demonstrates the high regard in which his abilities were held.

END NOTES

[1] Paul de Vos, Chasse au Sanglier, oil on panel, 22,5 x 33 cm, MBA Lille, inv. no. D P 979; Paul de Vos,  Chasse au Sanglier, oil on panel, 23 x 33,5 cm, MBA Lille, inv. no. D P 1051. 

[2] Black chalk, pen and brush in brown, 290 x 450 mm. Sale Christie’s London, 2 July 1991, lot. 64.

[3] See Charlotte Roosen, In Lijn met de Meester: Het schetsboek van Paul de Vos (1591/92 - 1678) binnen de atelierpraktijk van zijn leermeester Frans Snyders (1579 - 1657), Master’s dissertation, KULeuven, 2023.