The cottage on the hill
Amsterdam, about 1660
Etching
Plate: 195 x 281 mm
Frame: 584 x 737 mm
A small wooden house perches atop a steep hill, engulfed by the dense surrounding forest. The limbs of the trees twist and reach into the distance, entwined together to create a sense of movement and life. Ruisdael is considered to be the most skilful and inventive landscape painter of the Dutch Golden Age and was hugely influential on many of the artists on display here at The Barber Institute. His landscapes are apparently realistic, but he often artfully manipulated elements for dramatic effect.
Purchased November 1958 (No. 58.8)