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Jan van Goyen (artist) Dutch, 1596 - 1656 View of Dordrecht from the Dordtse Kil, 1644 oil on panel overall: 64.7 x 95.9 cm (25 1/2 x 37 3/4 in.) Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund 1978.11.1 On View |
The Netherlands was a great trading nation that depended on shipping as a basis for wealth and power. Whether on the open sea or through the network of rivers and canals that spread across the low lying land, Dutch ships carried goods for trade and commerce. Cities and towns grew up along the inland waterways so that transport of goods by barges and passengers by ferries could be facilitated.
Depictions of such water views were extremely popular in the first half of the seventeenth century. One of the greatest early landscape artists, Jan van Goyen was particularly adept at suggesting the various moods of the land in different seasons of the year or weather conditions. In this view of Dordrecht, the sky is overcast and the water calm, the atmosphere carefully created through Van Goyen's subtle range of ochers and grays.
Figures animate the scene; a fisherman works his traps on the left and behind him a sailboat takes on more travelers from a smaller transport boat. Another rowboat in the center foreground has already taken on passengers from the ferry boat and is transporting them to the harbor of Dordrecht.