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 horsemen are pursuing the fugitives. A village in
flames appears in the background.
=Verschuring's Horse-Shoer.=--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-Shoer. 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.
A very large tree stands in the front in full light, and behind the
hedge are a hayrick and the house.
=Murant's Farm.=--Another farm is the work of Emanuel Murant. A large
tree and a sheet of water occupy the foreground. Near the latter a goat
is lying; then come three pigs before a stable, and three sheep and a
peasant. A pigeon-house on four poles and a hay-wagon are seen in the
background.
=Three Good Landscape-painters.=--Jan Breughel (1601-78) painted so much
like his father ("Velvet") that it is hard to distinguish the one from
the other. His two village scenes are full of the country and rural
life. Michiel Carree (1666-1747) was another painter of the country. His
Wooded Landscape with Cattle has a mountainous background; it is
animated by a shepherd, an ass, two oxen, two goats, a ram, and several
lambs. Cornelis Decker (d. 1678) was a pupil of Salomon Ruisdael, whom
he greatly resembles in style. His landscape depicts a peasant's cot
half hidden among trees on the bank of a stream. On a plank crossing the
latter a woman is washing clothes; on the right are two persons in a
boat; on the horizon are trees and a clock-tower.
=Netscher's Family Scene.=--Netscher's Family Scene, painted in 1667,
shows a group in a garden in front of an imposing house. A gentleman in
a long brown wig leans on the base of a pillar; behind him is a statue
of Justice, and beside him a lady in white satin with a child on her
knee. Near her are two young girls; one is in red silk, the other in
blue satin. They are making floral crowns, while three other children
are twining flowers around a statue of Love. On the left, in the
foreground, is a handsome stone vase containing a plant.
=Two Landscapes.=--Pieter Jansz van As has a typical Dutch landscape
with rustic cottages, goats, shepherds, etc. Jan van Gool (1685-1763)
was a pupil of Terwesten and Van der Does. His Landscape and Animals is
a milking scene in a meadow, wherein are also a dog, goat, sheep, and
lambs. Trees, meadows, and a town close the distance.
=One of Koninck's Very Scarce Pictures.=--Jacob Koninck (fl. 1640) was a
pupil of A. van de Velde; his pictures are very scarce. Landscape with
Animals shows sheep and cattle browsing and lying down, with a young
shepherd presumably cutting his name on a tree-trunk. Banks of trees and
a farmhouse close the background.
=A Charming Landscape by P. van der Leeuw.=--Another little-known
landscape-painter, Pieter van der Leeuw (fl. 1670), was a son and pupil
of Sebastiaen van der Leeuw. He has a charming Landscape and Animals;
the animals consist of two oxen drinking at a stream, a ram, two ewes, a
goat, a sheep, and two lambs. A shepherd and shepherdess rest under a
tree. The color and composition are excellent.
=Michau's Landscape with Cottages.=--Theobald Michau (1676-1765)
modelled himself on D. Teniers the Younger. His Landscape with Peasants'
Cottages is full of the spirit of humble life. A woman sits at her door
with a child on her lap, talking to three neighbors; another is washing
kitchen utensils; a man and a dog are approaching. On the left there are
tall trees, and five cows beside a stream; and farther back are cottages
and a church-tower above trees.
=A Characteristic Picture by Van der Poel.=--Egbert van der Poel has
here a characteristic picture, Fire at Night in a Village House. The
house in flames occupies the middle of the picture; many persons are
trying to put out the fire, and some are throwing water upon it. Several
neighboring houses and a clock-tower are lighted by the glow of the
flames.
=Van Straaten's Washerwoman.=--Bruno van Straaten, who was born in
Utrecht in 1786, is represented by The Washerwoman. She is represented
as busy outside the walls of the town; near her are houses, trees, and a
windmill.
=Van Os's Farrier.=--Pieter Frederik van Os (b. 1808), a pupil of his
father, Pieter Gerardus, has a canvas called The Farrier. In this, two
men are shoeing a white horse in front of an old forge.
=Cuijp's Stable.=--Aelbert Cuijp's picture The Stable shows two dappled
horses seen from the back in a stable; in the foreground are seen a
stable-boy, a goat, some stable utensils, and a brown dog.
=An Interesting Kermesse by Droochsloot.=--Joost Cornelisz Droochsloot,
a native of Utrecht, who was born about 1586 and died after 1666, has an
interesting _Kermesse_. The scene is a village street, where a great
number of peasants are drinking, singing, and quarrelling. The houses
are half hidden by trees, and in the background is seen a clock-tower,
on the summit of which a red flag is floating.
=An Interesting Picture of Low Life.=--An interesting picture by Govert
Camphuysen, who lived in the seventeenth century, called Wagon Full of
Drunken Peasants before an Inn, shows a wagon drawn by a white and a
brown horse standing before an inn. About half a dozen men and women are
seated in it drinking and singing, and there is a fiddler upon the front
seat. The driver is cutting some bread; by the door stands the hostess,
who is pouring beer into a pewter mug; a man with glass in hand is seen
at an open window; a beggar stands by the wagon; and a horseman is
riding along the road.
=A Dutch Landscape by Van Os.=--Georgius Jacobus Johannes van Os has a
landscape. The scene is in Guelderland. Trees and a wheat field occupy
the background and middle distance; and in the foreground are seen sheep
and cows, painted by his brother, Pieter Gerardus van Os.
=Maria J. Ommeganck's Landscape with Sheep.=--Maria Jacoba Ommeganck
(1760-1849) is represented in this gallery by a Landscape with Sheep.
The scenery is mountainous. In the foreground two sheep are lying down;
in the middle distance a brown sheep is standing near a portion of a
house; and in the background are a shepherd with his dog and some
browsing sheep.
=Two Landscapes.=--Jan Hendrik Weissenbruch, born in Amsterdam in 1829,
has a Landscape with Animals, representing cattle in a meadow bright
with sunshine. In the foreground to the right is a watercourse, and in
the middle distance a mill. A Landscape in Guelderland by Anthonie
Jacobus van Wijngaerdt (1808- ) represents a sandy road through a forest
along which a man and a woman trudge bearing fagots. The sky is full of
clouds.
=A Sunset, by Schipperus.=--Pieter Adriannus Schipperus (b. 1840) has a
Sunset. The red sun disappears behind the trees and is reflected across
a pond surrounded by brushwood that occupies the foreground.
=A Fine Example of H. van Hove's First Period.=--Hubertus van Hove
(1814-65), the son of Bartholomeus, painted figure subjects, after
having first applied himself to landscape. A fine example of his first
period is the View of the Lakes in the Environs of Rotterdam.
=An Early Production of W. Roelofs.=--Willem Roelofs is represented here
by one of his early productions, Landscape and Animals. In the middle
distance are trees and a country house, and in the foreground a meadow
with cows standing on the banks of the river. It is interesting to note
that the cows were painted by J. H. L. de Haas.
[Illustration: MAUVE
Cows in a Shady Nook]
=Mauve's Cows in a Shady Nook.=--Anton Mauve is represented by Cows in a
Shady Nook. Several black cows spotted with white are lying under the
shade of the big boughs; another stands in the foreground near the
water; in the background there is a ditch bordered with willows and tall
grasses.
=Other Modern Landscapes.=--Among the other modern landscapes we may
note: Landscape, by Apol; On the Dunes, by Artz; The Water-mill and View
of the Village of Nuenen in Northern Brabant, by Vincent van Gogh; An
Afternoon at Katwijk-on-Sea, by S. L. Verveer; Landscape with a Windmill
near Schiedam, by Weissenbruch; Heath in Guelders in Autumn, by
Theophile de Bock; Street View (The Hague) and March Showers, by J. J.
van de Sande Bakhuijzen; and Summer (a woman and three children playing
on a beach), by Blommers.
=Jaeger's View of the Town of Alger.=--Gerard de Jaeger (d. after 1663)
was a painter of marines and canals. Nothing is known of him. His View
of the Town of Alger is signed and dated 1665. It is a plan rather than
a picture, having an explanatory placard of the objects of interest
depicted.
=A Village Picture by Van der Meer.=--Jan van der Meer (1628-91) has a
picture of The Village of Noordwijk Seen from the Dunes, dated 1676. A
hunter is talking to two women in the foreground; cattle and a
bleaching-ground occupy the middle distance, while a church amid trees
is in the extensive stretch of background.
=Two Town Views of Van Hove.=--B. J. van Hove has a Town View, where
upon a square in front of a Gothic church three men are talking. One of
them is accompanied by a dog. On a stone parapet on the left is seated a
person with a basket on his back. In the background a canal is seen with
two boats on it, and behind the trees on the quays some houses are
visible. Another Town View by the same painter shows a canal with a
bridge, beneath which a boat is passing. In the middle distance on the
right there is an old Dutch house, a part of which, as well as the
church with its clock-tower in the distance, is brilliantly lighted.
=Two of De Hulst's now Rare Pictures.=--The pictures of Frans de Hulst,
a native of Haarlem, where he died in 1662, are now exceedingly rare.
Two hang here. One is a View of the Old Gate of the East at Hoorn,
showing the moat surrounding the town, and various boats, in one of
which the fishermen are drawing their nets. In the middle distance is
the old fortified gate (built in 1511 and now demolished) and the
drawbridge, and in the horizon a large sheet of water. The View of
Nymegen shows some travellers arriving on the river bank in a chariot
drawn by four horses; the city is seen on the hills bordering the river
on the right, and beyond the walls and gates rises the Valkhof with its
square tower. The river is lost on the left.
=Town Views, by Vertin.=--Petrus Gerardus Vertin (born 1820) has two
Town Views. One represents some old houses more or less dilapidated, and
persons carrying merchandise and talking; the second, a canal bordered
with very old Dutch houses. On the horizon a clock-tower is seen.
=Winter Scenes by Leichert.=--Charles Henri Joseph Leichert (1818- ) has
two winter scenes: one represents a frozen canal animated with skaters,
with a frame of houses, a church, and a clock-tower; and the other a
street covered with snow, with houses on either side, and many figures.
=Van Beest's Market.=--Sybrandt van Beest (d. 1665) painted landscapes,
marines, and _genre_. His pictures are rare. He somewhat resembled Van
Goyen in style. In his Market, we see on the right a richly costumed
gentleman bargaining for a melon with a woman who is seated before a
table loaded with all kinds of fruit. Behind her are a man and two women
in conversation; an ass drawing a cart is passing. To the left are a
heap of vegetables and a woman is picking up a red cabbage. The
background is composed of houses and a wall partly covered with verdure,
and several women in front, also selling vegetables. The panel is signed
and dated 1652.
=De Witte's Fish Market at Amsterdam.=--Emanuel de Witte's The Fish
Market at Amsterdam is an interesting picture. In the foreground under
an awning near her stall, where lie many kinds of fish, a fishwoman is
standing and disputing with a lady who has a white handkerchief on her
head and a blue satin jacket. On the right a fisherman is taking off his
hat to her. In the background a part of the quay, Buitenkant, and the Y
are seen.
=Three Pictures of Fish-Sellers.=--Frans van Mieris the Younger has a
picture of a fish-seller standing behind his stall; he holds a whiting
in his right hand and two baskets in his left; on the right are a
tobacco-box, a knife, and a pipe. On the left are some trees, and the
sea extends on the right into the background. Louis de Moni has The
Fishmonger. An old woman stands at a window where dried fish are
hanging; on the left is a spinning-wheel. She is talking to a servant
who is standing before the window and who has a basket full of bread.
Several houses are seen in the background. The Herring Seller, by Pieter
Christoffel Wonder (1780-1852), belongs to this group. A young woman is
seated before the window of her house and at her stall, on which are
apples, cabbages, and onions. She has a pot on her knee and holds it
with her right hand, while in her left she offers a herring for sale.
=Two of Barent Gael's Good Pictures.=--Barent Gael (d. 1663) was a pupil
of Ph. Wouwermans; and, like his master, painted battles and cavalcades
with rich ordering, careful drawing, and picturesque effect. He
sometimes painted more humble scenes, as in the Woman with Cakes. She is
making these appetizing dainties in front of a village house, watched by
a man and four children. To the left are a hedge and some trees, and in
the background a few little houses. A beggar with his wife and child is
trudging along the road.
The Village Inn is not less interesting. Here a gentleman, having
alighted before the inn, stands with the bridle in his left hand and a
glass in his right, as he talks to a man and woman seated on a bench. In
the foreground a dog is lying, and in the background are two horsemen
and some trees.
=A Town View by Beerstraten, with Figures by Lingelbach.=--A.
Beerstraten, about whom little is known except that he lived in
Amsterdam in the seventeenth century, has an interesting picture of The
Old Town Hall of Amsterdam, built in the fifteenth century and destroyed
by fire in 1652. The old building on the Dam and the adjacent houses are
covered with snow. Persons of quality, and also merchants and peasants,
are seen walking through the snowy streets in all directions. These
little figures were painted by Lingelbach.
=Job Berckheyde's Old Bourse at Amsterdam.=--Another architectural
picture by Job Berckheyde (1630-93) shows The Old Bourse at Amsterdam,
built by De Keyser in 1608-11, and destroyed in 1836. We see only a
portion of the interior of this building under the colonnade, where many
merchants are talking. Some of them are in oriental costume. The picture
is beautifully lighted by the sun, which enters on the right.
=His Brother Gerard's Cologne.=--His brother Gerard Berckheyde
(1631-98?) has painted The Town of Cologne, showing the quay, the wall,
churches and other buildings, with the Rhine on the left. The foreground
is beautifully lighted. A brown and white horse, wagons, and boats
enliven the scene.
=Two Town Pictures by Verheijen.=--A fine view of The Geertekerk at
Utrecht by Jan Hendrik Verheijen (1778-1846) shows the church on the
right and the streets enlivened with strollers, playing children, and a
fish-seller. His Town View, where brightly lighted buildings are seen
across the bridge of a canal, should also be noted.
=St. Mary's Church, Utrecht, by Saenredam.=--Pieter Jansz Saenredam
(1597-65) is represented by St. Mary's Church, Utrecht. This remarkable
church, demolished in 1813 or 1816, was a copy of a church of the
eleventh century in Milan. It dominates the picture, although it stands
on the right. Behind it are some houses, and in front are trees and a
square, on which men and women are promenading, and children playing.
=A Good Example of H. van Vliet's Style.=--The Interior of a Protestant
Church, by Hendrick van Vliet (1605-71), is a good example of this
painter's style. On the left is the choir; in the centre of the
foreground, an open tomb; on the right, near a pillar, a gentleman whose
back is turned toward us, and who is accompanied by a dog. Between the
pillars the preacher in his pulpit and his hearers are seen. The name
and date, 1666, appear on one of the pillars.
=A Splendid Church Interior by Neeffs.=--Pieter Neeffs the Elder has a
splendid Interior of a Catholic Church, showing the nave animated with
many figures; chapels and altars are on right and left, and the choir is
in the background.
=Two Church Interiors by Bosboom.=--Johannes Bosboom (1817-91) has an
Interior of a Protestant Temple, with people walking about in costumes
of the seventeenth century; and also an Interior of the Church of St.
Laurence, Alkmaar, also brightened with figures.
=A Noted Picture by Klinkenberg, and Others by him.=--John Christian
Charles Klinkenberg (1852- ) is the modern Dutch painter of towns,
cities, and hamlets,--the Dutch Canaletto. He is a pupil of Bisschop and
Louis Meyer. At first he was inclined to historical subjects, but soon
turned his attention to street views. It would be impossible to
enumerate them all,--the old water-gate at Sneek, the town hall at
Zutphen, the town-gate at Hoorn, the market at Nymegen, the chancellory
at Leeuwarden, the old gate at Haarlem, the old streets of Amsterdam,
and the old buildings of The Hague. His noted picture representing a
View of the Vijver at The Hague was presented to the Museum by the
Rotterdam Society for Promoting Art in 1876. The Royal Museum is
represented on the right.
[Illustration: KLINKENBERG
View of the Vijver at The Hague]
=The Maas before Dordrecht, by S. van Ruisdael.=--The view of a town
seen across the river has always attracted Dutch artists. Dordrecht and
Rotterdam in particular have been painted by Jan van Goyen, Cuijp, and
others. One of the most noted pictures of river scenes is The Maas
before Dordrecht by Salomon van Ruisdael. In the foreground, to the
right, is a shabby old pier on which some cows are standing, while
others are in the water. Row-boats and sail-boats brighten the river,
and one of them on the left is flying the flag of Dordrecht. The town is
seen on the horizon.
=Burger's Opinion of this Artist.=--Burger says that this artist formed
his brother, and that he stands between Van Goyen and the glorious
Jacob. The picture just mentioned he considers "as masterly as one of
Jacob's works. The distant horizon and the tiny sails, extremely fine in
color, harmonize with the beautiful silvery sky."
=A Fine River Scene by Aelbert Cuijp.=--Aelbert Cuijp has a beautiful
View of the River in the Morning. On the right, at the foot of a high
mountain, a tongue of land advances into the water; two shepherds are
visible; some cows are browsing, quenching their thirst, or lying down;
and the river is dotted with row-boats and sail-boats. On the left are
some mountains, and in the background the town lies on the banks of the
river.
=One of Pompe's Rare Works.=--A View of Rotterdam, by a little-known
painter, Gerrit Pompe (fl. 1700), whose works are very rare, deserves
study. The Maas, animated with ships, occupies the foreground; on the
left, the Admiralty yacht is under full sail, and there is also a
row-boat; in the middle distance is a battleship; in the background are
some other boats; and still farther away extends the town of Rotterdam.
The painter has signed his name on a floating plank.
=Pompe's Rotterdam and Sonje's.=--It is interesting to compare Pompe's
Rotterdam with the View near Rotterdam by Johannes Sonje. Here we have
the Rotter in the foreground, on which a merchant ship and a row-boat
are seen. The river winds among the trees of the meadows, which are
animated with persons and animals. Under the trees on the left is a
farmhouse. Farther back are two sail-boats, and in the background is the
city.
=A Beautiful River Scene by Van Goyen.=--J. van Goyen, the father-in-law
of Jan Steen, was particularly famous for his landscapes and river
scenery, a beautiful example of which is called View of a River in
Holland. On the left is a jetty, from which fishermen are loading a boat
with baskets; in the middle distance is a boat with fishermen drawing a
seine; and in the background are a mill and some houses on the bank.
Several other sailing and rowing boats are on the water, and on the
horizon to the left is a village.
=Avercamp's Famous View of a River.=--Hendrik Avercamp (fl. 1660) was
famous in his day for his Dutch _kermesses_, camp life, landscape, and
still life. His View of a River is full of life and color. In the left
foreground are two fishermen, and on the left a seated fisherman's wife.
The men are dragging a big seine. In the middle distance to the right
people are bathing and swimming; swans are on the stream, also boats
with occupants; and there are houses on the banks.