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Lot Essay
This beautifully-preserved work, which has been in the same collection for the last 133 years, is one of the outstanding examples from a group of around a dozen scenes of inland waterways, each on small panels of approximately the same size, in upright rather than horizontal format, painted by Salomon van Ruysdael during the 1650s. Lauded for their naturalness and masterful command of medium, these can be considered amongst the purest expressions of Dutch seventeenth century marine painting and together they constitute a highpoint in Salomon van Ruysdael’s art. Other examples from the group include the Estuary Scene, sold Sotheby’s, New York, 29 January 2015, lot 60 ($3,077,000), and another sold Sotheby’s, London, 5 July 1995, lot 32 (£1,541,000).
Ruysdael developed an interest in working on an upright format presumably to explore new compositional possibilities, giving greater emphasis to verticality and to soaring skies. Typically, in this picture three quarters of the paint surface is devoted to the sky, with billowing clouds, some of them grey yet unthreatening, shown receding into the far distance. Beneath the seemingly infinite reach of the heavens, Salomon focuses on the day to day activity on a river estuary. Just a narrow strip of land provides a horizontal division between sky and water. A rowing boat in the left foreground moves lazily towards a cottage in the middle distance, the plume of smoke rising from its chimney giving a hint of a gentle breeze. The main focal point is a sailboat, its sails struggling to fill with wind, moving steadily away from the viewer. This is a schouw, a basic, shallow water vessel used to ship goods and passengers from town to town on Holland’s network of inland waterways. It provides the principal vertical accent in a composition, which, though seemingly effortless in its design, has been meticulously mapped out by Salomon to convey an overwhelming sense of spatial harmony.
The subtle transition of light falling on the water through the clouds, creates an easy sense of movement through the picture. From the shadowed foreground, where the ripples at the lower edge indicate that the viewpoint is on the shore, through the light filled middle ground, where the calm water allows for a beautiful rendition of reflected light and the illuminated strip of verdant land recedes from left to right with church towers and a windmill breaking the horizon line. Another narrow band of shadow is ahead of the boat before opening up into the light and airy distance. Salomon renders all of this with rapid brushwork, applied wet in wet, over a pinkish buff ground. The fluency of his handling and the remarkable evocation of atmosphere give the impression of it having been painted en plein air, though, more likely, Salomon worked up paintings of this kind in his studio using sketches made in the field.
Ruysdael developed an interest in working on an upright format presumably to explore new compositional possibilities, giving greater emphasis to verticality and to soaring skies. Typically, in this picture three quarters of the paint surface is devoted to the sky, with billowing clouds, some of them grey yet unthreatening, shown receding into the far distance. Beneath the seemingly infinite reach of the heavens, Salomon focuses on the day to day activity on a river estuary. Just a narrow strip of land provides a horizontal division between sky and water. A rowing boat in the left foreground moves lazily towards a cottage in the middle distance, the plume of smoke rising from its chimney giving a hint of a gentle breeze. The main focal point is a sailboat, its sails struggling to fill with wind, moving steadily away from the viewer. This is a schouw, a basic, shallow water vessel used to ship goods and passengers from town to town on Holland’s network of inland waterways. It provides the principal vertical accent in a composition, which, though seemingly effortless in its design, has been meticulously mapped out by Salomon to convey an overwhelming sense of spatial harmony.
The subtle transition of light falling on the water through the clouds, creates an easy sense of movement through the picture. From the shadowed foreground, where the ripples at the lower edge indicate that the viewpoint is on the shore, through the light filled middle ground, where the calm water allows for a beautiful rendition of reflected light and the illuminated strip of verdant land recedes from left to right with church towers and a windmill breaking the horizon line. Another narrow band of shadow is ahead of the boat before opening up into the light and airy distance. Salomon renders all of this with rapid brushwork, applied wet in wet, over a pinkish buff ground. The fluency of his handling and the remarkable evocation of atmosphere give the impression of it having been painted en plein air, though, more likely, Salomon worked up paintings of this kind in his studio using sketches made in the field.