=Questions to arouse interest.= What occupies the most important part of
this picture? Describe the trees bordering the road. Where does the road
lead? What does it pass on its way to the village? Where must the artist
have been standing? why do you think so? What can you say about the
perspective of this road? How much of this picture is sky? What kind of
lines predominate—curved, straight, vertical, or horizontal? In what
country do you think it is? Why is it so level? What are the people in
the picture doing? What do you like best about this picture?
=Original Picture=: National Gallery, London, England.
=Artist=: Meyndert Hobbema (hŏb’ĕ mä).
=Birthplace=: Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
=Dates=: Born, 1638; died, 1709.
=The story of the picture.= There is a little village in the Netherlands
by the name of Middelharnis, and if we should go there to-day we should
find just such an avenue of trees as this one in our picture. The
artist, Hobbema, spent many years in this village, painting scenes in
and around it. Probably he traveled over this very road countless times.
It would seem as if we, too, were walking down the road guarded by those
tall, slender trees which border each side of it. They are poplar trees,
trimmed so high that we scarcely recognize them. They lead direct to the
little village beyond, which we see between the tree trunks.
Since the village is almost surrounded by the North Sea, its high church
tower is not only picturesque by day but useful at night as a lighthouse
or beacon to guide the sailor to a safe port.
In our picture the sun is half hidden in a sky as full of fleecy clouds
as the sky near the North Sea generally is.
We must expect no hills nor elevations of any kind in the Netherlands, a
land lying lower than the ocean. The great protecting dikes and the many
canals extending in every direction make it one of the most interesting
of countries.
In the picture we see on each side of the road a deep ditch full of
water. These ditches irrigate the land, flowing into deeper, wider
canals on which sail boats of various sizes and kinds.
It is said that every true Hollander can skate. In the winter, when
these canals are frozen, young and old go about upon their various
errands on skates. It is a common sight then to see women skating to
market, carrying upon their heads heavy baskets filled with rolls of
butter, cheese, eggs, or other provisions. The children skate to school,
and men go about their business in this same pleasant way. It is easy to
reach all parts of the village or city by these canals, for there are so
many of them; in some cities the people have no streets, but use canals
instead.
At the right of our picture we catch a glimpse of a thrifty, well-kept
nursery garden full of shrubs and fruit trees, which the man is busily
trimming. He works contentedly, for all about him he sees the evidences
of prosperity and peace.
Coming toward us along this straight and level road is a huntsman
carrying his gun over his shoulder and preceded by his dog. A path leads
away from the road to the picturesque little cottage or farmhouse at the
right. Two peasants, a man and a woman, stand in the path talking. We do
not doubt they will turn to greet our hunter, for it is a friendly
countryside, where all are treated cordially.
We cannot see much on the extreme left of the picture except the trees
which grow luxuriantly, and a flat meadow land which reaches almost to
the village. It is a common, everyday sort of landscape, yet its charm
seems to lie in this very fact.
We would know at once if the perspective were not correct, for we have
solved just such problems ourselves with the tree tops, or perhaps
telegraph poles, and it gives us an added sense of pleasure to be able
to understand just the problem Hobbema had to solve as he placed his
easel in the middle of the road and started to paint his great canvas.
The light is rather uncertain on this cloudy day. The artist used little
color except grays and a peculiar green which he delighted in using in
all his paintings. A touch of brighter color appears in the cheerful red
of the roofs of his houses, which suggest something of the homely
comfort and cleanliness that may be found in most Dutch homes.
The most striking characteristic of Hobbema’s painting is his severe
combination of vertical and horizontal lines. The positive vertical
lines of the tree trunks standing so tall and straight against the wide
expanse of sky are reëchoed in the shorter but equally slender trunks of
the fruit trees in the nursery garden, and of the trees at the side of
the path leading to the farmhouse; also in the two straight figures
standing in the path, and again in the church tower in the distance.
The horizontal lines are equally positive. They separate the garden from
the road; they appear in the road itself, and in the horizon line
beyond. If we make a sketch of the important lines in this picture, we
find them either vertical or horizontal, and much more severe in outline
than the usual diagonal or curving lines we have grown accustomed to
looking for.
Critics seem to vary as to the feeling with which this picture inspires
them, although all agree upon its value as a masterpiece. Some declare
there is a sort of hopelessness in the landscape which suggests the
unhappy life of the artist, who often went hungry, and whose paintings
were not appreciated until after his death. To them the scene is full of
hopeless beauty, suggesting all kinds of joys which are never realized,
yet continue just out of reach throughout a long and cheerless life. So
it is a sad beauty, and gives one a feeling of desolation even in a land
where all is prosperity.
Other critics see only the thrifty, contented life of the Netherlands
peasant, who by his intelligence and labor has overcome even the sea
itself, and compelled it, by means of dikes and canals, to add to his
safety and comfort.
We know how much Hobbema must have loved his work, for he received no
return for it during his lifetime, unless it was the joy of work; and
yet he persevered.
Can we not imagine him on a pleasant day, seated or standing at his
easel in the middle of this road, quite forgetting poverty and even
hunger, as he painted this beautiful landscape before him? Hobbema was
certainly daring and full of courage when he attempted so severe and
unusual a composition as this. He has placed his road almost exactly in
the center of the picture, balancing the sides quite evenly, yet he has
not made it monotonous or tiresome. The eye is constantly discovering
new beauties in the landscape or the inclosing sky. Only a master could
produce a work such as this.
=Questions to help the pupil understand the picture.= What country is
represented in this picture? What kind of trees are those bordering the
road? To what do they lead the eye?
Of what use could the church tower, in the distance, be? Why is the
Netherlands such a level country? What can you see on each side of the
road? Of what use are the canals? What is the man doing in the garden?
Who else can you see in the picture? What colors did the artist use? How
can you tell whether the perspective of the road is correct or not? What
can you say of the sky? What can you say of the balance in the
composition? the kinds of lines? What kind of a day is represented? What
do some of the critics say about this picture? What is so unusual about
this composition? Why do most artists avoid placing the center of
interest in the middle of the picture? Why do you like this picture?
=The story of the artist.= We know very little about the artist,
Meyndert Hobbema, except that he was a Hollander possessing so great a
love for his native land that he continued to represent it on canvas in
spite of the fact that his countrymen were quite indifferent to him and
his work. His pictures were disposed of somehow, perhaps given away, for
when a hundred years after his death the world suddenly began to value
them, it was found that he had left enough canvases to have made him the
wealthiest man in the country. Yet he died in the almshouse, and was
buried beside his wife in a pauper’s grave. Now all the Netherlands
would give him honor, but so neglected was he during his life that it is
impossible to find out even where he was born. Three cities claim this
honor, but it is generally conceded that he was born at Amsterdam. It is
certain he was married and died there. We determine the date of his
birth by the date and his age as given in the record of his marriage.
Hobbema’s paintings were so real that the people, who were used to more
fanciful, idealized pictures, thought his commonplace and of no especial
interest. Now they recognize the great sympathy with, and insight into,
the very life of their country which Hobbema possessed in rare measure.
He made it real to us, too, in his scenes of thrift and industry,
prosperity, and smiling peace.
We are told that Hobbema was “a plain, practical, matter-of-fact” man
and his pictures make us think he must have been. Like him, they are
plain, unassuming, and natural; free from artificial grace or fancy. He
did not hunt for scenes of unusual beauty with romantic or weird
stories, but chose some pleasing view near at hand and painted it just
as it was.
Sometimes he painted the same scene several times from exactly the same
position. If all his works could be placed in one gallery for
exhibition, we might find it rather monotonous to see so many just
alike.
But although he did not have the inventive genius of Burne-Jones or of
many other artists, his paintings were always true to nature. He has
been called the painter of the afternoon sun because he seemed so fond
of the sunlight showing through the trees and casting long shadows
across the fields.
Many believe that Hobbema must have been a pupil of Ruysdael’s because
their work was so much alike. We know that they lived in the same place
at the same time and it is generally believed they were friends. Dealers
often substituted the name of one for that of the other and later, when
corrections were attempted, it was impossible to tell which was
Hobbema’s work and which Ruysdael’s, because both had painted the same
subjects.
At one time Hobbema was appointed gauger for the town. It was his duty
to measure the quantity of all liquids imported into Holland. This
position must have paid a fairly good salary, for Hobbema was married
directly after his appointment. It must have taken all his time, too,
for he painted very little for nearly twenty years. The fact that he had
a means of livelihood did not spur him on to greater efforts. He painted
only when he felt like it, not very often, and small, unimportant
pictures. Whether he lost this office before or after his wife’s death
is not known, but for some reason or other his last years were spent in
extreme poverty.
Twenty-six years after his death his pictures began to sell, and soon
picture dealers were scouring the country for his works.
His landscapes are not full of people, animals, or anything that might
disturb the calm, quiet restfulness of the scenes. Like Ruysdael, he too
was compelled to call upon other artists to draw the few figures he did
use, as he found this part most difficult.
One thing we may be sure of when we look at his paintings, and that is,
they were faithful representations of the place before him. So we may
know just how this road leading to the village of Middelharnis really
looked more than two centuries ago.
Other famous paintings by Hobbema are entitled: “Showery Weather,”
“Village with Water Mills,” “Woody Landscape,” “Ruins of Brederode
Castle,” “Forest Scene,” “Cottage in a Wood,” and “Entrance to a Wood.”
=Questions about the artist.= What kind of a man do you think Hobbema
must have been? Why? In what ways do his pictures resemble him? What
kind of pictures did he like to paint? What time of day? Why might an
exhibition of all his paintings prove monotonous?
What would you consider one of the best things about his paintings? What
other great artist lived at this time and in the same place? How did
their paintings resemble each other? What office did Hobbema hold? What
were some of his duties? How did this position affect his work? What
became of his paintings? Why was he so poor? Why were his paintings not
appreciated? How are they regarded now? Why do you think Hobbema must
have loved his work?
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[Illustration: THE ANGELUS By Permission of Braun & Co., Paris and New
York]