Jacob Salomonsz. van Ruysdael

Landscape with large oak tree, water and cattle

Oil on wood. 84,5 x 116 cm.

Provenance

Art dealer P. de Boer Amsterdam.

In second generation in German private collection.

This imposing landscape painting with the old, gnarled oak on the left and the calm body of water on the right is a characteristic, mature work by the Haarlem painter Jacob Salomonsz van Ruysdael - a son of Salomon and cousin of the more famous Isaacksz van Ruysdael. Unmistakable in Jacob Salomonsz landscapes are the strong, sprawling trees that dominate his compositions and the dark undergrowth in which mostly animals graze. Water bodies as watering holes are also rarely absent. In contrast, on the right side of our painting, the view opens into the distance and the blue sky, dotted with white clouds.

Cleaning the picture would bring out much better the picturesque qualities of this magnificent Dutch landscape.