Jacob van Ruisdael

Jacob van Ruisdael (born 1628/29, Haarlem, Netherlands—died March 10, 1682, Amsterdam) was a Baroque artist often regarded as one of the greatest Dutch landscape painters. His subjects and style varied throughout his career, leading to a dynamic oeuvre that comprises around 700 paintings, 100 drawings, and several etchings.

Ruisdael was probably the pupil of his father, the frame maker and artist Isaak de Goyer, who later called himself Ruysdael. None of Isaak’s paintings have been identified with certainty, and it is impossible to determine the nature and extent of his influence on his son’s art. Ruisdael’s earliest works are dated 1646, and the influence of Cornelis Vroom, another Haarlem landscapist, is often noticeable. Two years later Ruisdael became a member of the Guild of St. Luke in Haarlem. From 1650 to 1653 he traveled extensively in the Netherlands and the neighbouring parts of western Germany. About 1655 he settled in Amsterdam, of which he became a free citizen in 1659. Meindert Hobbema was his most famous pupil and follower.

Ruisdael’s early work, such as Peasant Cottage in a Landscape (c. 1646; Hermitage, St. Petersburg), reflects his obsession with trees. Earlier Dutch artists used trees merely as decorative compositional devices, but Ruisdael made them the subject of his paintings and imbued them with forceful personalities. His draftsmanship was meticulously precise and enriched by thick impasto, which adds depth and character to the foliage and trunks of his trees.

After 1650 the monumentality of his landscapes increases. In his view of Waterfall with Bentheim Castle Beyond (c. 17th century), the forms become more massive, the colours more vibrant, and the composition more concentrated. The latter quality is even more evident in his famous Jewish Cemetery (c. 1655; Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden), which is one of his most masterly compositions. All motifs of secondary importance serve as accessories to the main motif, three ruined tombs. Some scholars have suggested that the painting symbolizes the transience of temporal things.

After 1656 Ruisdael’s compositions become more spacious and his palette brighter. His paintings of waterfalls and his Marsh (c. 1660s; Hermitage) recall his earlier interest in forest scenes. But more often his late works—such as the The Windmill at Wijk bij Duurstede (c. 1668–70; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam), Wheat Fields (c. 1670; Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City), and his numerous views of Haarlem—display panoramas of the flat Dutch countryside. The horizon is invariably low and distant and dominated by a vast, clouded sky. Sometimes the small figures in his pictures were added by other artists, such as Adriaen van de Velde, Johannes Lingelbach, Philips Wouwerman, and Claes Berchem. Ruisdael also produced several delicately finished etchings, one of the most famous of which is The Wheat Field (c. 17th century; Petit Palais, Paris).