Jacob van Ruisdael - A Cottage and a Hayrick by a River [c.1646-50]

Jacob van Ruisdael - A Cottage and a Hayrick by a River [c.1646-50], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Jacob van Ruisdael's early work, like this delicate landscape of the 1640s, is often influenced by the style of his uncle, Salomon van Ruysdael, who may have been one of his teachers. This river landscape is characteristic of Salomon's compositions. In the late 18th and 19th centuries this picture had a companion piece, A Cornfield, the present location of which is unknown. A drawing related to the composition is known and a variant survives in Detroit (Institute of Arts).

[National Gallery, London - Oil on oak, 26 x 33.4 cm]

Jacob van Ruisdael - The Mill at Wijk-bij-Duurstede [c.1670]

Jacob van Ruisdael - The Mill at Wijk-bij-Duurstede [c.1670], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Dark clouds are gathering above this river landscape. The sunlight occasionally penetrates the clouds, casting a dramatic light upon the mill towering above all else. The buildings in the background are the castle and St Maarten's Church of Wijk-bij-Duurstede. The river in the foreground is the river Lek. Jacob van Ruisdael was one of the most famous painters of wind and water mills in the seventeenth century. This painting depicts an utterly Dutch landscape: flat, lots of water, sky and mills.

There is some discussion about the state of the weather in this painting. The threatening clouds do not correspond with other parts of the painting. For instance, the mill's sails indicate there is little wind. The sails on the boat are also slack, as though there is no wind. Yet the dark bank of clouds suggests a strong wind and that it will soon pour down with rain. It is quite probable that this painting will never be fathomed. Certainly Ruisdael did not paint this picture on the spot, since this was not common practice at the time. He made the painting in his studio, perhaps only then adding the dramatic clouds to the sky.

Jacob van Ruisdael - A Panoramic View of Amsterdam [c.1665-70]

Jacob van Ruisdael - A Panoramic View of Amsterdam [c.1665-70], a photo by Gandalf's Gallery on Flickr.

Ruisdael took this view from scaffolding surrounding the tower of Amsterdam's new Town Hall (now Royal Palace) on Dam Square. Sunlight picks out buildings fronting the Damrak and at right, the massive tower of the Oude Kerk. But more than documenting landmarks, the artist gives a vivid impression of the vast city that was then northern Europe's busiest port.

Jacob van Ruisdael was one of the most famous landscape painters of 17th-century Holland, and the foremost exponent of the classical phase of Dutch landscape painting. He was able to create a poetic and sometimes brooding or tragic mood in his landscapes. Ruisdael was born in Haarlem, the son of a little known painter, Isaack Jacobsz. van Ruisdael, who was also a dealer and frame-maker. Around 1650 he travelled to the hilly area around Bentheim across the German border. By 1657 Ruisdael had settled in Amsterdam and in his later years is said to have also practised as a physician there. He was buried in Haarlem.

[Oil on canvas, 41.3 x 40 cm]