Jacob van Ruisdael Painting Reproductions 3 of 6

c.1628-1682

Dutch Baroque Painter

Jacob Isaackszoon van Ruisdael (or Ruysdael) (c. 1628 - 14 March 1682) was a Dutch landscape painter.

A native of Haarlem, he appears to have studied under his father Isaak van Ruysdael, a landscape painter, though other authorities place him as the pupil of Berghem and of Allart van Everdingen. He was the nephew of Salomon van Ruysdael, a landscape artist of some note, and studied under him as well. The earliest date that appears on his paintings and etchings is 1645. Three years later he was admitted as a member of the guild of St Luke in Haarlem; in 1659 he obtained the freedom of the city of Amsterdam, and in 1668 his name appears there as a witness to the marriage of Meindert Hobbema. During his lifetime, his works were little appreciated, and he seems to have suffered from poverty. In 1681 the sect of the Mennonites, with whom he was connected, petitioned the council of Haarlem for his admission into the almshouse of the town, and there the artist died on the 14th of March 1682.

Ruisdael's favorite subjects are simple woodland scenes, similar to those of Everdingen and Hobbema. He is especially noted as a painter of trees, and his rendering of foliage, particularly of oak leaf age, is characterized by the greatest spirit and precision. His views of distant cities, such as that of Haarlem in the possession of the marquess of Bute, and that of Katwijk in the Glasgow Corporation Galleries, clearly indicate the influence of Rembrandt.

He frequently painted coast-scenes and sea-pieces, but it is in his rendering of lonely forest glades that we find him at his best. The subjects of certain of his mountain scenes seem to be taken from Norway, and have led to the supposition that he had traveled in that country. There is, however, no record of such a journey, and the works in question are probably merely adaptations from the landscapes of Van Everdingen, whose manner he copied at one period. Only a single architectural subject from his brush is known an admirable interior of the New Church, Amsterdam. The prevailing hue of his landscapes is a full rich green, which, however, has darkened with time, while a clear grey tone is characteristic of his seapieces. The art of Ruisdael, while it shows little of the scientific knowledge of later landscapists, is sensitive and poetic in sentiment, and direct and skillful in technique. Figures are sparingly introduced into his compositions, and such as occur are believed to be from the pencils of Adriaen van de Velde, Philip Wouwerman, and Jan Lingelbach.

Unlike the other great Dutch landscape painters, Ruisdael did not aim at a pictorial record of particular scenes, but he carefully thought out and arranged his compositions, introducing into them an infinite variety of subtle contrasts in the formation of the clouds, the plants and tree forms, and the play of light. He particularly excelled in the painting of cloudscapes which are spanned dome-like over the landscape, and determine the light and shade of the objects.

Goethe lauded him as a poet among painters, and his work shows some of the sensibilities the Romantics would later celebrate.

Characteristic of his early period, from about 1646 to 1655, is the choice of very simple motifs and the careful and laborious study of the details of nature. The time between his departure from Haarlem and his settling in Amsterdam may have been spent in travelling and helped him to gain a broader view of nature and to widen the horizon of his art.

A magnificent view of the Castle of Bentheim (which is located in Bad Bentheim in Lower-Saxony), dated 1654, suggests that his wanderings extended to Germany. In his last period, from about 1675 onwards, he shows a tendency towards overcrowded compositions, and affects a darker tonality, which may partly be due to the use of thin paint on a dark ground. Towards the end, in his leaning towards the romantic mood, he preferred to draw his inspiration from other masters, instead of going to nature direct, his favorite subjects being rushing torrents and waterfalls, and ruined castles on mountain crests, which are frequently borrowed from the Swiss views by Roghmau.

Ruisdael etched a few plates, thirteen according to the latest catalogue raisonne by Slive, which he evidently regarded as experimental and somewhat private, to judge by their extreme rarity - about half survive in only a single impression (copy). By far the best collection is at the Rijksmuseum print room in Amsterdam. Many have very crowded compositions of foliage. The Cornfield and the Travellers are characterized by Duplessis as prints of a high order which may be regarded as the most significant expressions of landscape art in the Low Countries.

129 Ruisdael Paintings

Hilly Landscape with a Watermill, c.1670 by Ruisdael | Painting Reproduction

Hilly Landscape with a Watermill c.1670

Oil Painting
$1744
Canvas Print
$60.02
SKU: RJV-13471
Jacob van Ruisdael
Original Size: 106.7 x 133.4 cm
Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan, USA

The Castle of Bentheim, c.1650/60 by Ruisdael | Painting Reproduction

The Castle of Bentheim c.1650/60

Oil Painting
$1237
Canvas Print
$49.85
SKU: RJV-13472
Jacob van Ruisdael
Original Size: 38.8 x 46.5 cm
Private Collection

Landscape with Windmills near Haarlem, c.1650/52 by Ruisdael | Painting Reproduction

Landscape with Windmills near Haarlem c.1650/52

Oil Painting
$1199
Canvas Print
$49.85
SKU: RJV-13473
Jacob van Ruisdael
Original Size: 31.5 x 33.9 cm
Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, United Kingdom

View of Amsterdam, n.d. by Ruisdael | Painting Reproduction

View of Amsterdam n.d.

Oil Painting
$1657
Canvas Print
$62.50
SKU: RJV-13474
Jacob van Ruisdael
Original Size: unknown
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, Hungary

The Wheatfield, n.d. by Ruisdael | Painting Reproduction

The Wheatfield n.d.

Oil Painting
$1130
Canvas Print
$62.36
SKU: RJV-13475
Jacob van Ruisdael
Original Size: unknown
Musee des Beaux-Arts, Lille, France

A Waterfall, c.1660/70 by Ruisdael | Painting Reproduction

A Waterfall c.1660/70

Oil Painting
$1715
Canvas Print
$64.14
SKU: RJV-13476
Jacob van Ruisdael
Original Size: 98.5 x 83.4 cm
Dulwich Picture Gallery, London, United Kingdom

View on the Amstel Looking Towards Amsterdam, c.1675/70 by Ruisdael | Painting Reproduction

View on the Amstel Looking Towards Amsterdam c.1675/70

Oil Painting
$1641
Canvas Print
$59.47
SKU: RJV-13477
Jacob van Ruisdael
Original Size: 52 x 66 cm
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, United Kingdom

A Norwegian Landscape with a Cascade Waterfall, n.d. by Ruisdael | Painting Reproduction

A Norwegian Landscape with a Cascade Waterfall n.d.

Oil Painting
$1601
Canvas Print
$60.02
SKU: RJV-13478
Jacob van Ruisdael
Original Size: unknown
Private Collection

River Landscape with a Castle on a High Cliff, c.1670 by Ruisdael | Painting Reproduction

River Landscape with a Castle on a High Cliff c.1670

Oil Painting
$1641
Canvas Print
$61.13
SKU: RJV-13479
Jacob van Ruisdael
Original Size: 101.1 x 125.6 cm
Cincinnati Art Museum, Ohio, USA

Winter Landscape, c.1670 by Ruisdael | Painting Reproduction

Winter Landscape c.1670

Oil Painting
$1591
Canvas Print
$50.82
SKU: RJV-13480
Jacob van Ruisdael
Original Size: 65.8 x 96.7 cm
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid, Spain

A Winter Landscape with a Frozen Canal and a Windmill, n.d. by Ruisdael | Painting Reproduction

A Winter Landscape with a Frozen Canal and a Windmill n.d.

Oil Painting
$1235
Canvas Print
$49.85
SKU: RJV-13481
Jacob van Ruisdael
Original Size: 39 x 44 cm
Private Collection

The Great Oak, 1652 by Ruisdael | Painting Reproduction

The Great Oak 1652

Oil Painting
$2947
Canvas Print
$60.84
SKU: RJV-13482
Jacob van Ruisdael
Original Size: 86.4 x 106.7 cm
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, California, USA

Dune Landscape with a Rabbit Hunt, c.1650/55 by Ruisdael | Painting Reproduction

Dune Landscape with a Rabbit Hunt c.1650/55

Oil Painting
$1047
Canvas Print
$49.85
SKU: RJV-13483
Jacob van Ruisdael
Original Size: 33.5 x 38 cm
Frans Hals Museum, Haarlem, Netherlands

Landscape with a Hut, 1646 by Ruisdael | Painting Reproduction

Landscape with a Hut 1646

Oil Painting
$1727
Canvas Print
$53.71
SKU: RJV-13484
Jacob van Ruisdael
Original Size: 71.8 x 101 cm
Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany

The Jewish Cemetary, c.1655 by Ruisdael | Painting Reproduction

The Jewish Cemetary c.1655

Oil Painting
$1584
Canvas Print
$56.58
SKU: RJV-13485
Jacob van Ruisdael
Original Size: 142.2 x 189.2 cm
Detroit Institute of Arts, Michigan, USA

A Wood Scene, 1649 by Ruisdael | Painting Reproduction

A Wood Scene 1649

Oil Painting
$1610
Canvas Print
$62.50
SKU: RJV-13486
Jacob van Ruisdael
Original Size: unknown
Public Collection

Bleaching Ground in the Countryside near Haarlem, 1670 by Ruisdael | Painting Reproduction

Bleaching Ground in the Countryside near Haarlem 1670

Oil Painting
$1622
Canvas Print
$66.07
SKU: RJV-13487
Jacob van Ruisdael
Original Size: unknown
Kunsthaus, Zurich, Switzerland

Windmill by a River, n.d. by Ruisdael | Painting Reproduction

Windmill by a River n.d.

Oil Painting
$1318
Canvas Print
$54.12
SKU: RJV-13488
Jacob van Ruisdael
Original Size: 49.5 x 66.5 cm
Private Collection

Castle at Bentheim, 1651 by Ruisdael | Painting Reproduction

Castle at Bentheim 1651

Oil Painting
$1715
Canvas Print
$63.18
SKU: RJV-13489
Jacob van Ruisdael
Original Size: 97.7 x 81.3 cm
Private Collection

View of Kostverloren Castle on the Amstel, n.d. by Ruisdael | Painting Reproduction

View of Kostverloren Castle on the Amstel n.d.

Oil Painting
$2585
Canvas Print
$62.22
SKU: RJV-13490
Jacob van Ruisdael
Original Size: 62.5 x 75.5 cm
Private Collection

Panoramic View of Haarlem, c.1670 by Ruisdael | Painting Reproduction

Panoramic View of Haarlem c.1670

Oil Painting
$1328
Canvas Print
$72.52
SKU: RJV-13491
Jacob van Ruisdael
Original Size: unknown
Guildhall Art Gallery, London, United Kingdom

Landscape with Waterfall, c.1668 by Ruisdael | Painting Reproduction

Landscape with Waterfall c.1668

Oil Painting
$1591
Canvas Print
$54.94
SKU: RJV-13492
Jacob van Ruisdael
Original Size: 142.5 x 196 cm
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Netherlands

View of Naarden, 1647 by Ruisdael | Painting Reproduction

View of Naarden 1647

Oil Painting
$1170
Canvas Print
$58.23
SKU: RJV-13493
Jacob van Ruisdael
Original Size: 34.8 x 67 cm
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, Madrid, Spain

Landscape with the Ruins of the Castle of Egmond, c.1650/55 by Ruisdael | Painting Reproduction

Landscape with the Ruins of the Castle of Egmond c.1650/55

Oil Painting
$1591
Canvas Print
$56.58
SKU: RJV-13494
Jacob van Ruisdael
Original Size: 98 x 130 cm
Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois, USA

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