Jacob Isaacsz. van Ruisdael (Haarlem 1628/9-1682 Amsterdam)
Property from the Corcoran Gallery of Art to Benefit the Acquisition Fund
Jacob Isaacsz. van Ruisdael (Haarlem 1628/9-1682 Amsterdam)

A wooded landscape with a pond

Details
Jacob Isaacsz. van Ruisdael (Haarlem 1628/9-1682 Amsterdam)
A wooded landscape with a pond
oil on panel
27 1/8 x 39 in. (69 x 99 cm.)
Provenance
Piérard, Valenciennes.
Graf Samuel von Festetits, Vienna; his sale, 11 April 1859, lot 41.
Friederich Jakob Gsell, Vienna; his sale, 14 March 1872, lot 97 (to Posonyi).
Alexander Emil Posonyi, Vienna; his sale, 21 May 1900.
Godfried von Preyer, Vienna, from whom acquired en bloc by
W.A. Clark, New York.
Literature
G.F. Waagen, Die vornehmsten Kunstdenkmäler in Wien, Vienna, 1866-1867, I, p. 320.
W. Bode, 'Die Galerie Gsell in Wien', Die Zeitschift für bildende Kunst, VII, 1872, pp. 181-86, as 'before 1650'.
C. Hofstede de Groot, A catalogue raisonné...,, etc, IV, London, 1911, p. 156, no. 497, as 'c. 1648-1649'.
Dutch and Flemish Paintings, catalogue, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., 1955, p. 43, no. 26.169.
G.S. Keyes, Cornelis Vroom: Marine and Landscape artist, Ph.D. diss., Utrecht, 1975, p. 175, under no. P5, as 'possibly by Claes van Beresteyn'.
S. Slive, Jacob van Ruisdael. A complete catalogue of his paintings drawings and etchings, New Haven and London, 2001, p. 328, no. 441, as 'datable about 1650'.
Exhibited
Vienna, Österreichischen Museum für Kunst und Industrie, Gemälde alter Meister aus dem Wiener Privatbesitze, August-Septmber 1873, no. 52 (lent by Posonyi).

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Lot Essay

The present painting possesses the lyrical qualities that are associated with Jacob van Ruisdael's greatest artistic achievements, despite the early dating to circa 1650. By contrasting the brooding sky with the dark, motionless oak trees and water the artist creates a narrative almost without human involvement -- the small figure in the mid-ground (thought by Waagen to be the artist) is the only human presence and is dwarfed by the surrounding nature. The somber tonality of the painting was noted by Bode as early as 1872, and has developed further with time. Ruisdael returned to this pleasing composition in a drawing comprising many of the same elements, which is in the Rijksprentenkabinet, Amsterdam (Slive, no. D.8).

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