1628/1629 -1682 · Haarlem, Amsterdam and Dutch landscape

Forests, mills, dunes, bleaching fields and immense skies make Jacob van Ruisdael the great poet of the Dutch landscape, capable of uniting observation, memory and meditation.

Jacob Isaacksz van Ruisdael was born in Haarlem around 1628 or 1629 into a family of painters, art dealers and frame makers. His father Isaack and uncle Salomon van Ruysdael introduced him to the local landscape tradition. The first dated works appeared when he was barely twenty years old; in 1648, he was received into the guild of Saint Luke of Haarlem. From the beginning, Ruisdael was distinguished by individualized trees, deep paths and skies which never serve as a simple background. Around 1650, he traveled to Bentheim, on the German border. Around 1650, he traveled to Bentheim, on the German border. The perched castle, hills and waterways offered him motifs which he freely reorganized. Bentheim Castle thus amplifies the height of the site to transform the monument into an apparition. Installed in Amsterdam from the end of the 1650s, Ruisdael further expanded his repertoire. Under the influence of Allart van Everdingen, he painted northern torrents and waterfalls without necessarily having traveled through Scandinavia. The Jewish Cemetery combines ruins, tombs, white water and rainbows in a meditation on time. The Mill near Wijk bij Duurstede gives an ordinary construction the monumentality of a symbol, under a sky crossed by light. The Mill near Wijk bij Duurstede gives an ordinary construction the monumentality of a symbol, under a sky crossed by light. The Mill near Wijk bij Duurstede gives an ordinary construction the monumentality of a symbol, under a sky crossed by light. The mill near Wijk bij Duurstede gives an ordinary construction the monumentality of a symbol, under a sky crossed by light. The mill near Wijk bij Duurstede gives an ordinary construction the monumentality of a symbol, under a sky crossed by light. The views of Haarlem, on the contrary, show the very low city behind the linen bleaching fields, leaving the air and clouds to occupy most of the canvas. Ruisdael also practices drawing and etching. His workshop formed Meindert Hobbema, while his landscapes profoundly influenced Gainsborough, Constable and the Romantics. He died in 1682 and was buried in Haarlem. His work does not copy nature: it brings together its forces to produce a mood, often serious, where human history remains measured by the sky, water and trees. The "Jacob van Ruisdael" selection notably compares Le Moulin near Wijk bij Duurstede and Le Cimetière Juive.

Ruisdael gives the landscape an awareness of time: the mill works, the cloud passes, the ruin remains and the water continues to pass through the image.