A winter landscape with figures on a path and skaters on a frozen waterway

The present painting, executed in 1838, illustrates the diversity within the oeuvre of Barend Cornelis Koekkoek. Even though his artistic career was dedicated entirely to the genre of landscape painting, there is a remarkable difference between what are considered to be his early and late works. Paintings from his early career are characterized by a straightforward and realistic composition, his later landscapes distinguish themselves by a more complicated and artificial composition. A stylistic trait also found in other paintings of this period is the depiction of a broad river or road in the foreground, which - as it wanders through the landscape - gets progressively narrower and leads the viewer's eye to the horizon, as can for instance be seen in the Winter landscape, dated 1837, in the collection of the Teylers Museum, Haarlem (inv.no. KS 067). Even though the artist moved to Cleves already four years earlier he appears still to be mainly inspires by the flat countryside of Holland. With great care Koekkoek has enlivened the snow-covered landscape with skaters, wood gatherers and figures in warm winter clothing. Painterly effects such as the haze covering the forest further enhance the winter atmosphere.