Part 20 (2/2)

=A Wooded Landscape by Izack van Ruisdael.=--Izack van Ruisdael (1628 or 9-1677) is represented by A Wooded Landscape, signed and dated 1665.

Water is seen to the right, as well as in the foreground, and six cows are standing in it. On the left are several tall trees, beneath which are cows and sheep; and far in the distance some men are fis.h.i.+ng from the bank.

=A Wooded Landscape by Hobbema.=--A Wooded Landscape and Landscape by Hobbema are characteristic examples. The first shows fine treatment of light. The sun piercing through thick clouds lights the middle distance, while foreground and background are in shadow. Among the tall trees in the background a barn is seen; then a boy and a woman fording the stream; a shepherd and some sheep near a willow tree; then come two tree-trunks and some brushwood; then a winding road, on which a peasant and a boy are walking; then a sheet of water bordered by willows.

=Another Landscape by Hobbema.=--The other Landscape also shows a sheet of water in the foreground where two persons are fis.h.i.+ng; then a tree-trunk, half of which is in the water; then some trees on a rising ground. A couple of ducks are swimming in the water. In the background a peasant's house is seen, before which a man is standing; and on the left a second clump of trees, where two persons are walking. The background is brilliantly lighted; but the middle distance and the foreground are in shadow.

=Van Kessel's Landscape near Haarlem.=--Jan van Kessel (1648-98), about whom little is known, and some of whose works follow the style of J. van Ruisdael, has here a Landscape near Haarlem and a View of Amsterdam. The first shows a brightly lighted foreground with a road leading to a village on the right, the ruins of the Castle of Brederode. Huntsmen and dogs, a shepherd and sheep, and some swans in a moat, by Lingelbach, enliven the scene. The middle distance is in shadow, and here we have trees, fields, and dunes. The background shows a brightly lighted landscape stretching away into the distance.

=His View of Amsterdam.=--His View of Amsterdam shows a ca.n.a.l where a man is rowing a boat, a large boat fastened on the right, some swans floating in the water on the left. The ca.n.a.l, shut by the gates, is crossed by a stone bridge, on which some people are walking. In the corner is a quay bordered with trees, and on the horizon a clock-tower.

=One of Isaak van Ostade's Rare Pictures.=--Isaak van Ostade (1621-49), a pupil of his brother Adriaen, usually painted inns and village scenes, now extremely rare. Neither the Mauritshuis nor the Rijks owns an example. Hence the Inn among the Dunes is of great interest. A chariot, drawn by a white horse, is arriving before an inn among the trees on the left. The horse is being fed, and some travellers and children stand in front of the door. A little boy is leading some pigs across the foreground; two hors.e.m.e.n are galloping away in the distance, and the horizon shows the dunes and a clock-tower.

=A. van der Neer's Moonlit Landscape.=--A Moonlit Landscape by Aert van der Neer is a striking picture with simple materials. A road, bordered with trees, is seen in the foreground, with two persons approaching; in the middle distance are some cows on the banks of a ca.n.a.l, and peasants'

houses under the trees, with a clock-tower in the background. The sky is stormy, and the moon is rising and throwing its rays on the water.

=A. van de Velde's Landscape and Blacksmith.=--Adriaen van de Velde has a Landscape with Animals and A Blacksmith. The first shows a flat landscape with a light brown ox, and a little farther away a sheep lying down, and also a cow; in the background a farmhouse is seen beneath the trees, and a vast meadow dotted with cows stretches away to the right.

The Blacksmith is in the background at the door of his forge, before which a boy stands with a gray horse. An a.s.s, a c.o.c.k, and some hens lend additional animation to the little scene.

=Two Norwegian Landscapes by Everdingen.=--Albert van Everdingen is represented by two fine examples of the Norwegian landscape, for which he is famous. The scenes are lively, with human figures in both.

=A Hunting Scene by Keirinckx and Poelenburg.=--Alexander Keirinckx (b.

1600) was a painter of landscapes and views of towns. He painted with much truth to nature, his foliage especially being executed with rare perfection. Poelenburg, as a rule, painted the figures in his pictures, as he did in A Forest, signed and dated 1630. This is a hunting scene, with a gentleman on horseback followed by hounds under tall trees in the foreground. Other figures are a huntsman sounding a call, two other hunters, and a stag in the distance among the trees.

=Verboom's Evening.=--Abraham Hendricksz Verboom (seventeenth century) is represented by Evening, showing trees in the foreground, huntsmen and dogs in the middle distance lighted by the setting sun, and behind a wooden fence a farmhouse. In the background a clock-tower appears on the right, while a rocky landscape extends to the left.

=Nymegen's Swiss Landscape.=--Gerard van Nymegen (1735-1808) was the pupil of his father D. van Nymegen. He visited Germany and Switzerland.

The Boijmans owns a Swiss Landscape, in which a majestic and foaming cascade plunges down the rocks; while, on the left, in the foreground, is a large fallen tree. Shepherds and sheep are crossing a bridge.

=Van der Heyde's Ruined Castle.=--A good example of Jan van der Heyde is A Ruined Castle. The scene is a courtyard with a large tree, under which is seated a shepherd playing a flute; a horseman is in a gateway on the left; and several persons are standing on a stone bridge on the right. A few clouds are floating across the clear sky. The picture is much admired for its light and shadow.

=Donck's Coming Home from Shooting.=--Gerrit Donck has a canvas called Coming Home from Shooting, with a cottage, two gentlemen, a woman, a peasant, and a boy. In the centre, some dead game lies on an inverted tub. One gentleman is seated; he points to the birds and talks to the woman. The other gentleman holds his gun and listens to what the peasant has to say. The boy looks on. Through the open door on the right we see a landscape in the style of J. van Goyen.

=P. Wouwermans's Gentleman on Horseback.=--A Gentleman on Horseback is by Philips Wouwermans. Mounted on a gray horse the rider takes his way through a sandy landscape toward the dunes that are seen on the left. He wears a gray costume embroidered with gold, a black hat with a white feather, and high black boots. In the background are trees, and on the right is a pavilion.

=An Admired Picture by E. van de Velde.=--Esais van de Velde's Cavalier has always been greatly admired. Vosmaer says: ”This little figure, seen from behind, sitting so squarely and easily on his horse, seems really a personage of life size; it is almost an equestrian statue. The horse is rearing, and the rider, whose back is turned to the spectator, wears a felt hat, a blue cloak, and high black riding-boots.”

=P. Wouwermans's Pillaging Soldiers.=--Philips Wouwermans once again displays the pleasure he takes in painting horses in his Pillaging Soldiers. In a hilly country and on the banks of a river a soldier on a white horse is aiming at the cheek of a peasant who is begging for mercy on his knees; one individual lies stretched out on the ground; and on the right a woman with her child in her arms is being pursued by a soldier. In the middle distance, a horseman is carrying off his booty, and on the left two hors.e.m.e.n are pursuing the fugitives. A village in flames appears in the background.

=Verschuring's Horse-Sh.o.e.r.=--Hendrick Verschuring (1627-90) was a painter of social life, portraits, and figures, and was a pupil of Dirk Govertsz and Jan Both. He visited Italy. His picture here is called A Horse-Sh.o.e.r. Before the steps of the old town hall of Amsterdam (represented also in Beerstraten's picture in this gallery) a man is shoeing a white horse. Farther back stands a man in a red cloak; to the right some beggars with a dog. Among the trees in the background a horseman is disappearing.

=A Spirited Forest Scene by Looten.=--Another landscape painter of this period was Jan Looten, who died in England in 1660. Like so many of his contemporaries, he employed others, especially Nicolaes Berchem, to enliven his scenery with figures. His large picture, A Forest, signed and dated 1658, is a spirited scene of ladies and gentlemen mounted, with hawks on their fists and followed by falconers. The landscape is prettily diversified with woods, streams, and hills.

=The Dunes, by J. Wouwermans.=--Jan Wouwermans (1629-66), pupil of his brother Philips, has a picture of The Dunes. In the middle of the picture is a watercourse, which is crossed by a bridge and loses itself behind a hill over which is seen the roof of a house.

=A Sunny Picture by Molenaer.=--Nicolaas Molenaer (d. 1676) has a sunny picture of a Bleaching Ground. In the foreground is a man in a boat on a stretch of water. To the right is the bleaching ground, in which people are busy spreading out the linen; and on the left are cottages, with tall trees behind.

=P. de Molyn's Farm.=--Pieter de Molyn the Elder (?-1661) has a pretty picture of a farm, where two peasant men are talking to a peasant woman.

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