Aert van der Neer (1603-1677) painted with strong contrasts of light,
as in his _Banks of a Dutch Canal_ (No. 2483); and his monogram is
to be found on the seat at the foot of a tree in his _Dutch Village_
(No. 2484), where his propensity for painting moonlight scenes is well
illustrated. Herman Saftleven’s (1609-1685) _Banks of the Rhine_ (No.
2563); Jan Asselyn’s _View of the Lamentano Bridge on the Teverone_
(No. 2301), _Landscape_ (No. 2302), and _Ruins in the Roman Campagna_
(No. 2303); and the two _Landscapes_ (Nos. 2332 and 2333) by Jan Both
(1610-1652), who worked in Rome and painted Italian landscapes under
the influence of the French artist Claude Lorrain, show the gradual
introduction of foreign influences. Joris van der Hagen (died 1669)
takes a new line in the representation of a very low horizon in his
_Environs de Haarlem_ (No. 2382); but his _Landscape with Peasants
crossing a Ford_ (No. 2381) is dull in tone and composed of unrelated
parts.
The _Banks of a River_ (No. 2561D) is a superb example of the art of
Salomon van Ruysdael (1600?-1670), one of the founders of the Haarlem
school of landscape, and the uncle of Jacob van Ruisdael. The _Large
Tower_ (No. 2561C) gives a better idea of his power than the _Ford_
(No. 2561B). Another painter in the same school, Cornelis Decker
(1618?-1678), has a _Landscape_ (No. 2346). Although Isack van Ostade
at times gave himself up to trivial subjects, as we have already
seen, the merit of his frozen river scenes (Nos. 2510, 2511, 2515) is
firmly established, and the happy way in which he combined a genuine
appreciation of nature with great skill in the placing and treatment of
his figures has earned for him a high place among the Dutch landscape
painters.