JACOB VAN RUISDAEL (HAARLEM C. 1628-AMSTERDAM 1682)
Evening Landscape: a Windmill by a Stream
c.1650Oil on canvas | 79.1 x 102.4 cm (support, canvas/panel/stretcher external) | RCIN 405538
This is domestic terrain, with a windmill, farmstead, distant village and bleaching fields, and yet Ruisdael’s depiction is grave and stern, rather than pretty. The day is blustery and the clouds substantial, creating a dark foreground and flashes of light in the middle distance. The forms, especially in the foreground, have a rough texture and jagged outline. A single figure, swathed in black, walks away from us.
Acquired by George IV in 1810, when Prince of Wales
Acquired by George IV in 1810, when Prince of Wales