National Gallery of Art :: The Collection :: Forest Scene
  • Overview
  • Inscription
  • Provenance
  • Exhibition History
  • Bibliography

Overview

The culmination of Dutch landscape painting occurs in the work of Jacob van Ruisdael. This great painter began his career in Haarlem but moved to Amsterdam around 1656. Throughout his long and productive professional life he portrayed many types of scenes, but his most characteristic paintings are those in which massive oak trees with craggy branches tower above the rugged countryside. Many of these paintings are inspired by Ruisdael’s travels near the Dutch–German border, rather than the mostly flat Dutch landscape.

Ruisdael had a vision of the grandeur and forces of nature. Figures in his paintings seem fragile, dwarfed by the elements of nature. In this scene a man and a woman walk along a path near some grazing sheep in the middle distance, but they are almost inconsequential in comparison to the broad waterfall, the rocks, and the huge fallen birch tree in the foreground.

The mood in Ruisdael's paintings is somber, yet indicates the persistence and vigor of life. The clouds are heavy and gray, and the greens of the grass and foliage are dark. Trees do not grow easily for their twisted roots need to grasp onto rocky outcroppings for support and nourishment. Yet flowers bloom near breaks in the wood. The massive broken trees in the foreground are not just compositional devices, they are conscious reminders of the struggle of existence.

Inscription

lower right: J v Ruisdael (JvR in ligature)

Marks and Labels

null

Provenance

Probably owned by Francis Nathaniel, 2nd marquess Conyngham [1797-1876], Mount Charles, County Donegal, and Minster Abbey, Kent.[1] Sir Hugh Hume-Campbell, 7th bart. [1812-1894], Marchmont House, Borders, Scotland, by 1857;[2] (his estate sale, Christie, Manson, & Woods, London, 16 June 1894, no. 48); (P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London); sold 1894 to Peter A.B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; gift 1942 to NGA.

[1] Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, trans. Edward G. Hawke, 8 vols., London, 1907-1927: 4:119. The only source of information concerning the picture's whereabouts prior to 1857 is Hofstede de Groot, whose listing of the painting is extremely confusing. It seems that any or all of his four entries (nos. 285, 367, 418, and 643c) may contain information that relates to the Forest Scene, but these entries also contain additional and contradictory provenance listings, which must refer to at least one other painting. It nonetheless seems likely that before the Forest Scene was acquired by Sir Hugh Hume Campbell, it was indeed owned by a member of the Conyngham family of Ireland, most probably the 2nd marquess, but also possibly his father, Henry, 3rd baron and 1st marquess Conyngham (1766-1832).

[2] Gustav Friedrich Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain: Being an Account of the Chief Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures and Illuminated Mss., 3 vols., London, 1854-1857, supplement: 441-442.

Exhibition History

1866
British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom, London, 1866, no. 59 (possibly also 1855, no. 54, and 1857, no. 79).
1877
Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters and by Deceased Masters of teh British School. Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1877, no. 199.

Bibliography

1857
Waagen, Gustav Friedrich. Galleries and Cabinets of Art in Great Britain: Being an Account of more than Forty Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, Mss., &c.&c.. London, 1857: 441.
1866
British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom. Exh. cat. London, 1866: no. 59.
1877
Exhibition of the Works of Old Masters.... Exh. cat. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1877: no. 199.
1885
Widener 1885-1900, no. 274.
1907
Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century.... 8 vols., translated from the German edition. London, 1907-1917: 4(1912):92, no. 285 (possibly also 119, 134, 203).
1913
Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis, and Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Pictures in the Collection of P.A.B. Widener at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania: Early German, Dutch, and Flemish Schools. Philadelphia, 1913: unpaginated, repro.
1923
Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1923: unpaginated, repro.
1928
Rosenberg, Jakob. Jacob van Ruisdael. Berlin, 1928: 87, no. 241.
1930
Simon, Kurt Erich. Jacob van Ruisdael: eine Darstellung seiner Entwicklung. Berlin, 1930: 62, pl. 8.
1931
Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1931: 94, repro.
1935
Tietze, Hans. Meisterwerke europäischer Malerei in Amerika. Vienna, 1935: 192, repro. (English ed., Masterpieces of European Painting in America. New York, 1939: 192, repro.).
1942
Works of Art from the Widener Collection. Foreword by David Finley and John Walker. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 6.
1948
Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1948 (reprinted 1959): 58, repro.
1952
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds., Great Paintings from the National Gallery of Art. New York, 1952: 108, color repro.
1957
Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in Art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 143
1960
Baird, Thomas P. Dutch Painting in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 1960 (Booklet Number Seven in Ten Schools of Painting in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.): 18, color repro.
1960
The National Gallery of Art and Its Collections. Foreword by Perry B. Cott and notes by Otto Stelzer. National Gallery of Art, Washington (undated, 1960s): 25.
1963
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 194, repro.
1965
Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1965: 119.
1966
Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds., A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. New York, 1966: 1:252, color repro.
1968
European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1968: 106, repro.
1975
European Paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1975: 316, repro.
1975
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 292-293, no. 391, color repro.
1979
Watson, Ross. National Gallery of Art. London, 1979: 77, pl. 64, color repro.
1981
Schmidt, Winfried. Studien zur Landscaftskunst Jacob van Ruisdaels: Frühwerke und Wanderjahre. Hildesheim and New York, 1981: 90.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 292, no. 384, color repro.
1984
Wheelock, Jr., Arthur K. Dutch Painting in the National Gallery of Art. Washington, D.C., 1984: 36-37, color repro.
1985
European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1985: 363, repro.
1986
Sutton, Peter C. A Guide to Dutch Art in America. Grand Rapids and Kampen, 1986: 305.
1991
Walford, E. John. Jacob van Ruisdael and the Perception of Landscape. New Haven, 1991: 102-104, 117, 144, repro.
1992
National Gallery of Art, Washington. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1992: 136, color repro.
1995
Wheelock, Jr., Arthur K. Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, D.C., 1995: 339-343, color repro. 341.
2003
Slive, Seymour. Jacob van Ruisdael: A Complete Catalogue of his Paintings, Drawings and Etchings. New Haven, 2003: no. 295
2004
Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 204-205, no. 162, color repro.
2012
Tummers, Anna. The Eye of the Connoisseur: Authenticating Paintings by Rembrandt and His Contemporaries. Amsterdam, 2012: 101, color fig. 46.

Related Works

Related Resources

  • Event Type
    Event Name
    March 1–June 1
    Mon, Tues, and Wed at 1:00
    March 5, 2012 at 2:00
    March 7, 2012 at 4:00
    East Building, Auditorium
    Name of docent
    image:
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum
    60 minutes
    Registration for this event begins on April 1, 2012 at noon.
    Register for this event
    Download the program notes (100k)
  • Self-Guided Tour
    Italian Collection
    image:
    Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum