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View of Alkmaar
Jacob Isaacksz. van Ruisdael (Dutch, 1628 or 1629–1682)
about 1675–80
Medium/Technique
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
44.5 x 43.5 cm (17 1/2 x 17 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Ernest Wadsworth Longfellow Fund
Accession Number39.794
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CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsPaintings
Unlike his uncle Salomon, who perfected one kind of landscape painting, Jacob van Ruisdael developed sub-specialties. This variety allowed him to dominate the landscape market in the second half of the 17th century. His subjects included forests with craggy trees, winter scenes, waterfalls, seascapes, the environs of his native Haarlem (called Haarlempjes), and the “mountains” near the Dutch-German border. He further distinguished himself by using stronger contrasts of color and light than many other painters. The upper picture juxtaposes a murky forest with a sandy path that winds through a clearing. In the lower painting, notice how the artist alternates bands of light and dark in his panoramic view of Alkmaar.
InscriptionsLower left: Ruisdael
Provenance1824, Eugène de Beauharnais (b. 1781 - d. 1824), 1st Duke Leuchtenberg, Milan and Munich [see note 1]; by descent within the family, until about 1904/1907, to Georg, 5th Duke Leuchtenberg (b. 1872 - d. 1929), St. Petersburg and Seeon Castle, Bavaria, Germany [see note 2]. By 1939, with Hans Gronau (b. 1904 - d. 1951), London, possibly representing Arnold Seligmann, Rey and Co., Paris and New York [see note 3]; 1939, sold by Arnold Seligmann Rey and Co. to the MFA for $15,000. (Accession Date: December 14, 1939)
NOTES:
[1] First published in "Catalogue des Tableaux de la Galerie de son Altesse Royale, Monsieur le Duc de Leuchtenberg à Munich" (Munich, 1825), p. 41. cat. no. 108.
[2] The painting was published in “Les Tableaux de la collection du duc G. N. de Leuchtenberg,” Les Trésors d’art en Russie 4 (1904). It was mentioned as having been "until recently" in the collection of Georg von Leuchtenberg by A. Neoustroieff, "Niederländische Gemälde in der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Künste zu St. Petersburg," Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst, n. F., 18 (1907): 39.
[3] W. G. Constable saw the painting with Gronau in London in the summer of 1939, at which time Gronau quoted a sale price. The painting was then shipped to Arnold Seligmann, Rey and Co. in New York, whose representative stated that the Ruisdael "is our property." The reverse of the painting's stretcher has a French shipping label bearing Gronau's name and "A[rnold] S[eligmann] Rey."
NOTES:
[1] First published in "Catalogue des Tableaux de la Galerie de son Altesse Royale, Monsieur le Duc de Leuchtenberg à Munich" (Munich, 1825), p. 41. cat. no. 108.
[2] The painting was published in “Les Tableaux de la collection du duc G. N. de Leuchtenberg,” Les Trésors d’art en Russie 4 (1904). It was mentioned as having been "until recently" in the collection of Georg von Leuchtenberg by A. Neoustroieff, "Niederländische Gemälde in der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Künste zu St. Petersburg," Zeitschrift für bildende Kunst, n. F., 18 (1907): 39.
[3] W. G. Constable saw the painting with Gronau in London in the summer of 1939, at which time Gronau quoted a sale price. The painting was then shipped to Arnold Seligmann, Rey and Co. in New York, whose representative stated that the Ruisdael "is our property." The reverse of the painting's stretcher has a French shipping label bearing Gronau's name and "A[rnold] S[eligmann] Rey."