A very large tree stands in the front in full light, and behind the hedge are a hayrick and the house.
=Murant"s Farm.=--Another farm is the work of Emanuel Murant. A large tree and a sheet of water occupy the foreground. Near the latter a goat is lying; then come three pigs before a stable, and three sheep and a peasant. A pigeon-house on four poles and a hay-wagon are seen in the background.
=Three Good Landscape-painters.=--Jan Breughel (1601-78) painted so much like his father ("Velvet") that it is hard to distinguish the one from the other. His two village scenes are full of the country and rural life. Michiel Carree (1666-1747) was another painter of the country. His Wooded Landscape with Cattle has a mountainous background; it is animated by a shepherd, an a.s.s, two oxen, two goats, a ram, and several lambs. Cornelis Decker (d. 1678) was a pupil of Salomon Ruisdael, whom he greatly resembles in style. His landscape depicts a peasant"s cot half hidden among trees on the bank of a stream. On a plank crossing the latter a woman is washing clothes; on the right are two persons in a boat; on the horizon are trees and a clock-tower.
=Netscher"s Family Scene.=--Netscher"s Family Scene, painted in 1667, shows a group in a garden in front of an imposing house. A gentleman in a long brown wig leans on the base of a pillar; behind him is a statue of Justice, and beside him a lady in white satin with a child on her knee. Near her are two young girls; one is in red silk, the other in blue satin. They are making floral crowns, while three other children are twining flowers around a statue of Love. On the left, in the foreground, is a handsome stone vase containing a plant.
=Two Landscapes.=--Pieter Jansz van As has a typical Dutch landscape with rustic cottages, goats, shepherds, etc. Jan van Gool (1685-1763) was a pupil of Terwesten and Van der Does. His Landscape and Animals is a milking scene in a meadow, wherein are also a dog, goat, sheep, and lambs. Trees, meadows, and a town close the distance.
=One of Koninck"s Very Scarce Pictures.=--Jacob Koninck (fl. 1640) was a pupil of A. van de Velde; his pictures are very scarce. Landscape with Animals shows sheep and cattle browsing and lying down, with a young shepherd presumably cutting his name on a tree-trunk. Banks of trees and a farmhouse close the background.
=A Charming Landscape by P. van der Leeuw.=--Another little-known landscape-painter, Pieter van der Leeuw (fl. 1670), was a son and pupil of Sebastiaen van der Leeuw. He has a charming Landscape and Animals; the animals consist of two oxen drinking at a stream, a ram, two ewes, a goat, a sheep, and two lambs. A shepherd and shepherdess rest under a tree. The color and composition are excellent.
=Michau"s Landscape with Cottages.=--Theobald Michau (1676-1765) modelled himself on D. Teniers the Younger. His Landscape with Peasants"
Cottages is full of the spirit of humble life. A woman sits at her door with a child on her lap, talking to three neighbors; another is washing kitchen utensils; a man and a dog are approaching. On the left there are tall trees, and five cows beside a stream; and farther back are cottages and a church-tower above trees.
=A Characteristic Picture by Van der Poel.=--Egbert van der Poel has here a characteristic picture, Fire at Night in a Village House. The house in flames occupies the middle of the picture; many persons are trying to put out the fire, and some are throwing water upon it. Several neighboring houses and a clock-tower are lighted by the glow of the flames.
=Van Straaten"s Washerwoman.=--Bruno van Straaten, who was born in Utrecht in 1786, is represented by The Washerwoman. She is represented as busy outside the walls of the town; near her are houses, trees, and a windmill.
=Van Os"s Farrier.=--Pieter Frederik van Os (b. 1808), a pupil of his father, Pieter Gerardus, has a canvas called The Farrier. In this, two men are shoeing a white horse in front of an old forge.
=Cuijp"s Stable.=--Aelbert Cuijp"s picture The Stable shows two dappled horses seen from the back in a stable; in the foreground are seen a stable-boy, a goat, some stable utensils, and a brown dog.
=An Interesting Kermesse by Droochsloot.=--Joost Cornelisz Droochsloot, a native of Utrecht, who was born about 1586 and died after 1666, has an interesting _Kermesse_. The scene is a village street, where a great number of peasants are drinking, singing, and quarrelling. The houses are half hidden by trees, and in the background is seen a clock-tower, on the summit of which a red flag is floating.
=An Interesting Picture of Low Life.=--An interesting picture by Govert Camphuysen, who lived in the seventeenth century, called Wagon Full of Drunken Peasants before an Inn, shows a wagon drawn by a white and a brown horse standing before an inn. About half a dozen men and women are seated in it drinking and singing, and there is a fiddler upon the front seat. The driver is cutting some bread; by the door stands the hostess, who is pouring beer into a pewter mug; a man with gla.s.s in hand is seen at an open window; a beggar stands by the wagon; and a horseman is riding along the road.
=A Dutch Landscape by Van Os.=--Georgius Jacobus Johannes van Os has a landscape. The scene is in Guelderland. Trees and a wheat field occupy the background and middle distance; and in the foreground are seen sheep and cows, painted by his brother, Pieter Gerardus van Os.
=Maria J. Ommeganck"s Landscape with Sheep.=--Maria Jacoba Ommeganck (1760-1849) is represented in this gallery by a Landscape with Sheep.
The scenery is mountainous. In the foreground two sheep are lying down; in the middle distance a brown sheep is standing near a portion of a house; and in the background are a shepherd with his dog and some browsing sheep.
=Two Landscapes.=--Jan Hendrik Weissenbruch, born in Amsterdam in 1829, has a Landscape with Animals, representing cattle in a meadow bright with sunshine. In the foreground to the right is a watercourse, and in the middle distance a mill. A Landscape in Guelderland by Anthonie Jacobus van Wijngaerdt (1808- ) represents a sandy road through a forest along which a man and a woman trudge bearing f.a.gots. The sky is full of clouds.
=A Sunset, by Schipperus.=--Pieter Adriannus Schipperus (b. 1840) has a Sunset. The red sun disappears behind the trees and is reflected across a pond surrounded by brushwood that occupies the foreground.
=A Fine Example of H. van Hove"s First Period.=--Hubertus van Hove (1814-65), the son of Bartholomeus, painted figure subjects, after having first applied himself to landscape. A fine example of his first period is the View of the Lakes in the Environs of Rotterdam.
=An Early Production of W. Roelofs.=--Willem Roelofs is represented here by one of his early productions, Landscape and Animals. In the middle distance are trees and a country house, and in the foreground a meadow with cows standing on the banks of the river. It is interesting to note that the cows were painted by J. H. L. de Haas.
[Ill.u.s.tration: MAUVE Cows in a Shady Nook]
=Mauve"s Cows in a Shady Nook.=--Anton Mauve is represented by Cows in a Shady Nook. Several black cows spotted with white are lying under the shade of the big boughs; another stands in the foreground near the water; in the background there is a ditch bordered with willows and tall gra.s.ses.
=Other Modern Landscapes.=--Among the other modern landscapes we may note: Landscape, by Apol; On the Dunes, by Artz; The Water-mill and View of the Village of Nuenen in Northern Brabant, by Vincent van Gogh; An Afternoon at Katwijk-on-Sea, by S. L. Verveer; Landscape with a Windmill near Schiedam, by Weissenbruch; Heath in Guelders in Autumn, by Theophile de Bock; Street View (The Hague) and March Showers, by J. J.
van de Sande Bakhuijzen; and Summer (a woman and three children playing on a beach), by Blommers.
=Jager"s View of the Town of Alger.=--Gerard de Jager (d. after 1663) was a painter of marines and ca.n.a.ls. Nothing is known of him. His View of the Town of Alger is signed and dated 1665. It is a plan rather than a picture, having an explanatory placard of the objects of interest depicted.
=A Village Picture by Van der Meer.=--Jan van der Meer (1628-91) has a picture of The Village of Noordwijk Seen from the Dunes, dated 1676. A hunter is talking to two women in the foreground; cattle and a bleaching-ground occupy the middle distance, while a church amid trees is in the extensive stretch of background.
=Two Town Views of Van Hove.=--B. J. van Hove has a Town View, where upon a square in front of a Gothic church three men are talking. One of them is accompanied by a dog. On a stone parapet on the left is seated a person with a basket on his back. In the background a ca.n.a.l is seen with two boats on it, and behind the trees on the quays some houses are visible. Another Town View by the same painter shows a ca.n.a.l with a bridge, beneath which a boat is pa.s.sing. In the middle distance on the right there is an old Dutch house, a part of which, as well as the church with its clock-tower in the distance, is brilliantly lighted.
=Two of De Hulst"s now Rare Pictures.=--The pictures of Frans de Hulst, a native of Haarlem, where he died in 1662, are now exceedingly rare.
Two hang here. One is a View of the Old Gate of the East at Hoorn, showing the moat surrounding the town, and various boats, in one of which the fishermen are drawing their nets. In the middle distance is the old fortified gate (built in 1511 and now demolished) and the drawbridge, and in the horizon a large sheet of water. The View of Nymegen shows some travellers arriving on the river bank in a chariot drawn by four horses; the city is seen on the hills bordering the river on the right, and beyond the walls and gates rises the Valkhof with its square tower. The river is lost on the left.
=Town Views, by Vertin.=--Petrus Gerardus Vertin (born 1820) has two Town Views. One represents some old houses more or less dilapidated, and persons carrying merchandise and talking; the second, a ca.n.a.l bordered with very old Dutch houses. On the horizon a clock-tower is seen.
=Winter Scenes by Leichert.=--Charles Henri Joseph Leichert (1818- ) has two winter scenes: one represents a frozen ca.n.a.l animated with skaters, with a frame of houses, a church, and a clock-tower; and the other a street covered with snow, with houses on either side, and many figures.
=Van Beest"s Market.=--Sybrandt van Beest (d. 1665) painted landscapes, marines, and _genre_. His pictures are rare. He somewhat resembled Van Goyen in style. In his Market, we see on the right a richly costumed gentleman bargaining for a melon with a woman who is seated before a table loaded with all kinds of fruit. Behind her are a man and two women in conversation; an a.s.s drawing a cart is pa.s.sing. To the left are a heap of vegetables and a woman is picking up a red cabbage. The background is composed of houses and a wall partly covered with verdure, and several women in front, also selling vegetables. The panel is signed and dated 1652.
=De Witte"s Fish Market at Amsterdam.=--Emanuel de Witte"s The Fish Market at Amsterdam is an interesting picture. In the foreground under an awning near her stall, where lie many kinds of fish, a fishwoman is standing and disputing with a lady who has a white handkerchief on her head and a blue satin jacket. On the right a fisherman is taking off his hat to her. In the background a part of the quay, Buitenkant, and the Y are seen.
=Three Pictures of Fish-Sellers.=--Frans van Mieris the Younger has a picture of a fish-seller standing behind his stall; he holds a whiting in his right hand and two baskets in his left; on the right are a tobacco-box, a knife, and a pipe. On the left are some trees, and the sea extends on the right into the background. Louis de Moni has The Fishmonger. An old woman stands at a window where dried fish are hanging; on the left is a spinning-wheel. She is talking to a servant who is standing before the window and who has a basket full of bread.
Several houses are seen in the background. The Herring Seller, by Pieter Christoffel Wonder (1780-1852), belongs to this group. A young woman is seated before the window of her house and at her stall, on which are apples, cabbages, and onions. She has a pot on her knee and holds it with her right hand, while in her left she offers a herring for sale.
=Two of Barent Gael"s Good Pictures.=--Barent Gael (d. 1663) was a pupil of Ph. Wouwermans; and, like his master, painted battles and cavalcades with rich ordering, careful drawing, and picturesque effect. He sometimes painted more humble scenes, as in the Woman with Cakes. She is making these appetizing dainties in front of a village house, watched by a man and four children. To the left are a hedge and some trees, and in the background a few little houses. A beggar with his wife and child is trudging along the road.
The Village Inn is not less interesting. Here a gentleman, having alighted before the inn, stands with the bridle in his left hand and a gla.s.s in his right, as he talks to a man and woman seated on a bench. In the foreground a dog is lying, and in the background are two hors.e.m.e.n and some trees.
=A Town View by Beerstraten, with Figures by Lingelbach.=--A.
Beerstraten, about whom little is known except that he lived in Amsterdam in the seventeenth century, has an interesting picture of The Old Town Hall of Amsterdam, built in the fifteenth century and destroyed by fire in 1652. The old building on the Dam and the adjacent houses are covered with snow. Persons of quality, and also merchants and peasants, are seen walking through the snowy streets in all directions. These little figures were painted by Lingelbach.
=Job Berckheyde"s Old Bourse at Amsterdam.=--Another architectural picture by Job Berckheyde (1630-93) shows The Old Bourse at Amsterdam, built by De Keyser in 1608-11, and destroyed in 1836. We see only a portion of the interior of this building under the colonnade, where many merchants are talking. Some of them are in oriental costume. The picture is beautifully lighted by the sun, which enters on the right.
=His Brother Gerard"s Cologne.=--His brother Gerard Berckheyde (1631-98?) has painted The Town of Cologne, showing the quay, the wall, churches and other buildings, with the Rhine on the left. The foreground is beautifully lighted. A brown and white horse, wagons, and boats enliven the scene.
=Two Town Pictures by Verheijen.=--A fine view of The Geertekerk at Utrecht by Jan Hendrik Verheijen (1778-1846) shows the church on the right and the streets enlivened with strollers, playing children, and a fish-seller. His Town View, where brightly lighted buildings are seen across the bridge of a ca.n.a.l, should also be noted.
=St. Mary"s Church, Utrecht, by Saenredam.=--Pieter Jansz Saenredam (1597-65) is represented by St. Mary"s Church, Utrecht. This remarkable church, demolished in 1813 or 1816, was a copy of a church of the eleventh century in Milan. It dominates the picture, although it stands on the right. Behind it are some houses, and in front are trees and a square, on which men and women are promenading, and children playing.
=A Good Example of H. van Vliet"s Style.=--The Interior of a Protestant Church, by Hendrick van Vliet (1605-71), is a good example of this painter"s style. On the left is the choir; in the centre of the foreground, an open tomb; on the right, near a pillar, a gentleman whose back is turned toward us, and who is accompanied by a dog. Between the pillars the preacher in his pulpit and his hearers are seen. The name and date, 1666, appear on one of the pillars.
=A Splendid Church Interior by Neeffs.=--Pieter Neeffs the Elder has a splendid Interior of a Catholic Church, showing the nave animated with many figures; chapels and altars are on right and left, and the choir is in the background.
=Two Church Interiors by Bosboom.=--Johannes Bosboom (1817-91) has an Interior of a Protestant Temple, with people walking about in costumes of the seventeenth century; and also an Interior of the Church of St.
Laurence, Alkmaar, also brightened with figures.
=A Noted Picture by Klinkenberg, and Others by him.=--John Christian Charles Klinkenberg (1852- ) is the modern Dutch painter of towns, cities, and hamlets,--the Dutch Ca.n.a.letto. He is a pupil of Bisschop and Louis Meyer. At first he was inclined to historical subjects, but soon turned his attention to street views. It would be impossible to enumerate them all,--the old water-gate at Sneek, the town hall at Zutphen, the town-gate at Hoorn, the market at Nymegen, the chancellory at Leeuwarden, the old gate at Haarlem, the old streets of Amsterdam, and the old buildings of The Hague. His noted picture representing a View of the Vijver at The Hague was presented to the Museum by the Rotterdam Society for Promoting Art in 1876. The Royal Museum is represented on the right.
[Ill.u.s.tration: KLINKENBERG View of the Vijver at The Hague]
=The Maas before Dordrecht, by S. van Ruisdael.=--The view of a town seen across the river has always attracted Dutch artists. Dordrecht and Rotterdam in particular have been painted by Jan van Goyen, Cuijp, and others. One of the most noted pictures of river scenes is The Maas before Dordrecht by Salomon van Ruisdael. In the foreground, to the right, is a shabby old pier on which some cows are standing, while others are in the water. Row-boats and sail-boats brighten the river, and one of them on the left is flying the flag of Dordrecht. The town is seen on the horizon.
=Burger"s Opinion of this Artist.=--Burger says that this artist formed his brother, and that he stands between Van Goyen and the glorious Jacob. The picture just mentioned he considers "as masterly as one of Jacob"s works. The distant horizon and the tiny sails, extremely fine in color, harmonize with the beautiful silvery sky."
=A Fine River Scene by Aelbert Cuijp.=--Aelbert Cuijp has a beautiful View of the River in the Morning. On the right, at the foot of a high mountain, a tongue of land advances into the water; two shepherds are visible; some cows are browsing, quenching their thirst, or lying down; and the river is dotted with row-boats and sail-boats. On the left are some mountains, and in the background the town lies on the banks of the river.