Salomon van Ruysdael
(1600 - 1670) |
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Seascapes, Marine Subjects, Landscapes, Genre Scenes Art Work
| Name: |
Salomon van Ruysdael |
| Gender: |
Male |
| Place of Birth: |
Naarden |
| Nationality: |
Dutch |
| Birth: |
1600 |
| Death: |
1670 |
| Website: |
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| Past Auctions: |
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Quick Facts
| Known For: |
Seascapes, Marine Subjects, Landscapes, Genre Scenes |
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| Fine Art Profession(s): |
Painting
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Biography
| A review of the literature reveals that scholars have not concurred on Salomon's importance. Recognized as one of the leading Haarlem painters of "tonal landscapes" in the first half of the seventeenth century, his paintings are, according to some reports, now garnering market prices that exceed his true position in the history of art. No survey of European landscape painting, however, could be complete without mentioning him. Originally Salomon de Go(o)yer-after his birth in Gooiland - Salomon spelled his name variously but never "Ruisdael" like his famous nephew Jacob.* The exact date of Salomon's birth is not known, but it is agreed that he could not have been born after 1603. He was recorded as a member of the Haarlem painter's guild (as Solomon de Gooyer) in 1623. He lived all his life in Haarlem. Salomon's teacher is not known, but scholars generally point to the influence of Esaias van de Velde,* who had been active in Haarlem from 1610 to 1618. He must have traveled through the Netherlands making views of various cities, including Leiden and Dordrecht. The earliest dated works we have show Salomon responding to a number of sources and still developing a personal style. Several early works are winter scenes, notably the Winter Landscape (signed and dated 1627, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum). A year later, in his Dune Landscape (dated 1628, Pasadena, Norton Simon Museum), we see him responding to the tonal, simplified, and elemental themes of landscape which Jan van Goyen* was also exploring, and which reflect the influence of Pieter de Molijn.* By the 1630s Ruysdael's own independent style was emerging: his conception of landscape developed more scope. The landscape, more complex and fully described, had become a setting for more elaborately conceived houses, trees, and people - as, for example, the Travelers by an Inn (dated 1631, Berlin, Staatliche Museen, GemSldegalerie) or a similar scene of the same year (Budapest, Szepmiiveszeti Muzeum). In these years Salomon developed a strong interest in waterways; his depictions of rivers (River Landscape, dated 1631, London, National Gallery, or Rivercoast, dated 1632, Hamburger Kunsthalle) let the water intercede between the viewer and the land. The land's recession away from the onlooker, set against the sky, places new emphasis on atmosphere; it is suggestive at once of the vastness and the poetry inherent in nature. The interplay of sky and water, the active wind evoked by moving clouds, and the placement of tree clumps and land strips to form his composition helped Salomon develop his own view of nature in the 1630s. During that decade Salomon's manner sometimes still parallels that of van Goyen, sometimes so closely that works by the two artists are confused for one another. Who was influencing whom is a matter of debate, but it is most likely that each artist influenced the other. Salomon's tonality differs from van Goyen's, incorporating a cool, delicate range of greens, muted yellows, and grays - all of which capture the sodden atmosphere most noticeable just before or just after a rainfall. The parallels between Ruysdael and van Goyen lessen during the later 1630s, and by the 1640s new interests emerge in Salomon's work. Trees become more isolated elements, color lighter, clouds play a more prominent role in the sky. The movement of clouds over water is a principal occupation, although on occasion landscapes without water are treated as well. Salomon responded to a more expansive interpretation of nature, magnifying or emphasizing its various aspects-sky, water, clouds. Trees, too, take on a more heroic feeling, though they are not quite as powerfully interpreted as in his nephew's work. Ruysdacl's atmospheric effects now depict crisp, cool, fresh air-as though cleared by a storm. A golden tonality sometimes pervades his images. The highpoint of Ruysdael's career is generally considered the late 1640s and the 1650s, a decade during which his riverscapes were executed with a broader palette and stronger contrasts of light and dark, and during which his compositions became more complex. A notable example is his River and Ferry with Castle in the Background (dated 1649, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum), which evolves into the more amply peopled Boat with Merry Peasants (dated 1656, Minneapolis Institute of Arts). In the 1660s Ruysdael's trees became a bit more emphatic and his contrasts a bit stronger, but the essential elements of his landscapes remained the same. During these decades Salomon's subject matter diversified a bit - winter occupations returned to his vocabulary, as did an occasional battle scene, and in the 1660s he produced several vigorously rendered still lifes of dead game set out on marble table tops (probably made of the artificial marble Salomon reportedly invented). Though Salomon had a number of pupils and followers (including his son Jacob Salomonsz van Ruysdael and, most likely, Jacob van Mosscher, his nephew Jacob van Ruisdael, Francois Knibbergen, Wouter Knijff, and Antonie van Croos), on his death the theme of the riverscape-the idyllic view of ferries and boaters on a placid waterway - came to a virtual end. Today some six hundred works dating from 1626 to 1669 have been identified, though no surviving drawings are certain from his hand. |
Samples of Work
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