12 Salomon van Ruysdael (1600/03-1670) Ferry crossing the river and fishers by the water signed ‘S. vRuysdael’ (on the boat, lower right) oil on canvas, 62,5x100 cm
A river landscape unfolds beneath a vast, cloud-laden sky where streaks of bright blue break through the drifting masses, filling the scene with the warm hues of light. In the centre, a ferry is pushed steadily across the river’s surface, laden with people, livestock, and two rowers who steer it along the gentle current. Such vessels, busy with trade and travel, form a quiet emblem of daily life on the Dutch waterways, their movement mirrored by other boats passing upstream and down. On the near bank, two groups of fishermen occupy the foreground: to the left, two figures sit quietly with their backs turned, absorbed in their work; to the right, a more animated cluster strains to moor their boats, their gestures caught in mid-action. To their left, the distant church tower rises delicately above the trees, its silhouette marking the edge of a tranquil settlement and anchoring the broad horizon. With a subtle palette of silver greys, warm browns and cool blues Salomon van Ruysdael evokes the freshness of the air, while the still reflections on the river he lends the composition a meditative calm. Through his sensitive treatment of light and atmosphere, he transforms an ordinary riverside view into a quiet hymn to nature and the enduring rhythm of human life within it. Salomon van Ruysdael was a prominent 17th century landscape painter, celebrated for his sensitive and atmospheric depictions of rivers, dunes, coastal scenes, and winter landscapes. Born in Naarden at the beginning of the seventeenth century, he was the youngest of four sons of Jacob Jansz de Gooyer, a prosperous Mennonite cabinetmaker, and his wife. Following his father’s death in 1616, Salomon and two of his brothers, Isaack and Jacob, adopted the surname Van Ruysdael, derived from a country estate near Blaricum. Salomon established himself in Haarlem, joining the Guild of St. Luke in 1623, and over the course of his career became a leading figure in the city’s artistic life, serving multiple times as warden and as dean of the guild. Van Ruysdael’s earliest works, produced in the mid-1620s, show the influence of the tonal approach common among Haarlem landscape painters, such as de Pieter de Molijn (1595- 1661) and Jan van Goyen (1596-1656), whose works were characterised by a limited colour palette and a focus on mood and atmospheric nuance; a defining feature of early Dutch realism. By the 1630s and 1640s, Ruysdael emerged as a leading figure among the tonal painters. He developed a particular interest in riverscapes, depicting waterways with silvery light and delicate reflections, often enlivened by small boats, inns, or figures engaged in daily activity. As seen in this painting, his compositions were carefully structured, frequently employing diagonal lines to guide the eye across the landscape, while clouds and skies are rendered with growing individuality and sensitivity. By the mid-1640s, van Ruysdael’s style evolved further, embracing richer colour contrasts, broader brushstrokes, and a greater sense of monumentality. His later landscapes reveal an almost Italianate grandeur, with dramatic skies, pronounced architectural elements, and carefully modelled trees that lend a sculptural quality to the composition. Van Ruysdael’s innovations in style, keen observational skill, and atmospheric subtlety mark van him as one of the most important figures of the Dutch Baroque landscape tradition.
Painted circa 1650.
€30,000 - €50,000
Literature: -W. Stechow, ‘Salomon van Ruysdael, eine Einführung in seine Kunst’, Berlin, p. 132, no. 404. Provenance: -Collection Roth, Vienna. -With Galerie Sanct Lucas, Vienna (invoice to Dr A.F.P. Philips, Eindhoven, dated 10 December 1934). -With Arnot, London, 1926 (according to Stechow). -Collection Ir P.F.S. Otten, Eindhoven. -Collection A.E.C. Otten-Philips, Valkenwaard, thence by descent to the present owner. On the invoice from Galerie Sanct Lucas in Vienna to Dr A.F.P. Philips in Eindhoven, letters of authenticity by Dr Gustav Glück, Vienna (5 May 1925) and Max J. Friedländer, Berlin (16 October 1934) are included. These letters and invoice are not included in this lot.
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