The Travelers

166[2?]

Meindert Hobbema

Artist, Dutch, 1638 - 1709

Two light-skinned men on horseback ride toward us on a rutted, country road set in a sweeping view with a watermill along a river to our left, and a screen of trees to our right in this horizontal landscape painting. The horizon comes about a third of the way up the composition, and many of the trees and the watermill are shown against the white and dove-gray clouds rolling across the pale blue sky. The riders are small in scale when compared to the landscape. The man to our left rides a chestnut-brown horse and wears a red jacket and a black, wide-brimmed hat pushed back on his head. The man to our right, on a silvery gray horse, wears a brown hat and clothing. White streaks at their necks and cuffs suggest lace or linen undershirts. Both horses walk with their bodies angled slightly to our left on the curving path. Two dogs trot ahead of the riders, toward us. A charcoal-gray, wooden bridge beyond the men to our left leads to the watermill. The squat, wide building is constructed on a stone foundation with wooden posts and beams that make a geometric pattern within the canary-yellow stucco. The gabled roof is covered with terracotta-red tiles at the peak closest to us, but the rest is thatched in gray and tawny brown. One small chimney rises from the center and the other from the end farther from us. A tall, water wheel is affixed to the shaded side of the building closest to us. A few ducks float in the grass-lined river near the lower left corner of the composition. The trees that dominate the right half of the canvas are painted with shades of moss, sage, and pine green and golden yellow. Only closer inspection reveals the tip of a church spire rising behind the treetops to our right. In the shadows beneath the trees, we also find a man wearing a tall sack on his back and holding a walking stick as he sits on a low rise near the lower right corner, and a man and child walking away from us along the path in the distance, into the trees.

Media Options

Skip thumbnail navigation
Back to thumbnail navigation
This object’s media is free and in the public domain. Read our full Open Access policy for images.

Meindert Hobbema studied under the noted landscape artist Jacob van Ruisdael, and quite a few of his compositions evolved from the work of his erstwhile master. The Travelers, one of Hobbema’s largest works, is a close variant of a smaller painting of a watermill by Ruisdael now in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

Hobbema approached nature in a straightforward manner, depicting picturesque, rural scenery enlivened by the presence of peasants or hunters. He often reused favorite motifs such as old watermills, thatch-roofed cottages, and embanked dikes, rearranging them into new compositions. Hobbema’s rolling clouds allow patches of sunshine to illuminate the rutted roads or small streams that lead back into rustic woods. All six of the National Gallery’s canvases by Hobbema share these characteristics.

Not on view See artworks now on view

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Widener Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 101 x 145 cm (39 3/4 x 57 1/16 in.)

  • Accession

    1942.9.31

More About this Artwork

Scholarly Article:  Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century: The Travelers, 166[2?]

This horizontal painting shows a group of eight light-skinned musicians and onlookers gathered closely around a rectangular, carpet-covered table. The front edge of the table runs parallel to the bottom edge of the painting, and seems close to us. Shown from about the waist up, the men and women’s vivid lapis-blue, coral-red, buttercup-yellow, lilac-purple, and moss-green garments fall in crisp folds. Bright reflections on the fabric suggest a satin-like material. Two women wear feathers in their hair and one man’s hat is plumed. One man, wearing crimson red and black, sits with his back to us to our left on the near side of the table. He holds the neck of a bass viol, about the size of a cello, with his left hand, and points to pages of an open music book with the bow in his right hand. The other people cluster on the far side of the table. A man to the left plays a violin; a woman at the center plays a guitar-sized bandora, and a woman to our right plays a lute. The musicians, along with a man who leans over the table from between the two women, look down at the music books. A young man behind the woman at the center holds up a glass of pale liquid with his right hand as he touches his left forefinger to his smiling lips. A man and woman stand close together in the background to our right, in the top right corner of the canvas.

Scholarly Series:  Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Gosen Geurt Alberda van Dyksterhuys [d. 1830], Château Dyksterhuys, Province of Groningen, by 1829; R. Gockinga and P. van Arnhem, Groningen, after 1829; (sale, Amsterdam, 5 July 1833, no. 11);[1] R. Gockinga, Groningen. Colonel Biré, Brussels;[2] (sale, Bonnefons de Lavialle, Paris, 25-26 March 1841, no. 2); William Williams Hope [1802-1855], Rushton Hall, Northamptonshire, and Paris;[3] (sale, Christie & Manson, London, 14-16 June 1849, no. 124); purchased by Fuller or perhaps bought in;[4] (William Williams Hope sale, Pouchet, Paris, 11 May 1858, no. 2). William Ward, 1st earl of Dudley [1817-1885, created earl 1860], Witley Court, Worcestershire, by 1871; by inheritance to his son, William Humble Ward, 2nd earl of Dudley [1867-1932], Witley Court; (sale, Christie, Manson & Woods, London, 25 June 1892, no. 9); (P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London);[5] 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.[6]
[1] Both Van Arnhem and Gockinga had individually offered to buy the two pictures by Hobbema, including NGA 1942.9.31, that Gosen Geurt Alberda van Dyksterhuys owned. Before either had closed the deal, however, the owner died. It was later arranged that the two would purchase the paintings together; see Charles J. Nieuwenhuys, A Review of the Lives and Works of Some of the Most Eminent Painters, London, 1834:147-149.
[2] The catalogue of this sale bears the title Catalogue d'une riche collection de tableaux des écoles flamande et hollandaise, recueillie par M. Héris de Bruxelles..., but although the collection was "recueillie" (collected/gathered) by Héris and was offered for sale under his name, he may not himself have been the owner of the paintings. In the copy of the sale catalogue at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the words "Recueillie par M. Héris de Bruxelles" in the title are followed by the handwritten addition, "pour M. le Colonel Biré," and alongside the title in the Victoria and Albert Museum's copy is written "mais c'est la collection de M. le Colonel Biré," which suggests that Héris may have been acting as Biré's agent in acquiring and selling the pictures.
[3] The buyer's name is noted in the Philadelphia copy of the sale catalogue as "hoppe," which is probably a misspelling of Hope. (The 1858 Hope sale catalogue states that Hope bought the picture at the Héris sale.)
[4] Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century..., 8 vols., trans. by Edward G. Hawke, London, 1907-1927: 4:406, lists the 1849 sale in the provenance of his no. 100, a painting that may or may not be identical with his no. 94, 4:403-404 (which is definitely The Travelers). The compositional descriptions given in both these Hofstede de Groot entries are similar, but the dimensions listed for no. 100, 51 x 54 inches, are impossible for the National Gallery picture. The identity and whereabouts of Hofstede de Groot no. 100 remain unclear; it is possible that Hofstede de Groot was mistaken in the dimensions that he gave for this picture, and that it was indeed the same painting as his no. 94. Hofstede de Groot further confuses the issue by listing part of the provenance of The Travelers under no. 94, and part (the 1841 Héris sale) under no. 100. The 1849 Hope sale catalogue does not give dimensions, so it is impossible to establish whether the painting offered there was The Travelers or the unknown, and perhaps apocryphal, "Hofstede de Groot 100." The picture in question fetched £367.10, and Hofstede de Groot, citing as his source a handwritten note in Smith's own copy of his Catalogue Raisonné, says that it was bought in. (In this copy, which is at the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, The Hague, Smith gives the buyer as "Fuller," but this is not necessarily contradictory, as Fuller may have been a Christie's employee.) Smith's statement is probably correct, for the National Gallery of Art's painting remained in the possession of W.W. Hope until 1858, when it was sold in Paris.
[5] Colnaghi lent the painting to the Royal Academy of Art’s 1894 Winter Exhibition, which ran from January to March. The sale to Widener must have occurred later in the year.
[6] A label from the Art Institute of Chicago shipping room, dated 27 January 1943, was removed from the painting’s stretcher in 1981, but neither the Art Institute nor the NGA registrar’s office records this movement.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1871

  • Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1871, no. 369, as A Landscape: travellers passing through a wood.

1894

  • Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters, and by Deceased Masters of the British School. Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1894, no. 60, as A Watermill.[1]

1997

  • Rembrandt and the Golden Age: Dutch Paintings from the National Gallery of Art, The Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, 1997, unnumbered brochure.

Bibliography

1829

  • Smith, John. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters. 9 vols. London, 1829-1842: 9(1842):727, no. 25.

1834

  • Nieuwenhuys, Charles J. A Review of the Lives and Works of Some of the Most Eminent Painters. London, 1834: 147-149.

1839

  • Koppius, P. A. "Meindert Hobbema." Drentsche Volksalmanak (1839): 114–128, repro., as dated 1662.

  • Héris, Henri. "Sur la Vie et les Ouvrages de Meindert Hobbema." La Renaissance: Chronique des Arts et de la Littérature 54 (1839): 5-7, repro.

1854

  • Jervis-White-Jervis, Lady Marian. Painting and Celebrated Painters, Ancient and Modern. 2 vols. London, 1854: 2:225.

1859

  • Thoré, Théophile E. J. (William Bürger). "Hobbema." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 4 (October 1859): 34, 36, 38.

1861

  • Blanc, Charles. "Minderhout Hobbema." In École hollandaise. 2 vols. Histoire des peintres de toutes les écoles 1-2. Paris, 1861: 2:10 (each artist's essay paginated separately).

1864

  • Scheltema, Pieter. "Meindert Hobbema: Quelques Renseignements sur ses Oeuvres et sa Vie." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 16 (March 1864): 219 n. 3.

1885

  • Catalogue of Paintings Forming the Collection of P.A.B. Widener, Ashbourne, near Philadelphia. 2 vols. Paris, 1885-1900: 2(1900):no. 212, repro.

1891

  • Cundall, Frank. The Landscape and Pastoral Painters of Holland: Ruisdael, Hobbema, Cuijp, Potter. Illustrated biographies of the great artists. London, 1891: 157.

1907

  • Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century. 8 vols. Translated by Edward G. Hawke. London, 1907-1927: 4(1912):385-386, no. 94, 387-388, no. 100.

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 & 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.

1927

  • Rosenberg, Jakob. "Hobbema." Jahrbuch der Preussischen Kunstsammlungen 48, no. 3 (1927): 139-151.

1931

  • Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1931: 78, repro.

1937

  • Roos, Frank J., Jr. An Illustrated Handbook of Art History. New York, 1937: 183, repro.

1938

  • Broulhiet, Georges. Meindert Hobbema (1638–1709). Paris, 1938: 71, 381, no. 32, repro., as after Ruisdael, dated 1664.

1942

  • National Gallery of Art. Works of art from the Widener collection. Washington, 1942: 5.

1948

  • National Gallery of Art. Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. Washington, 1948 (reprinted 1959): 59, repro.

1959

  • Stechow, Wolfgang. "The Early Years of Hobbema." Art Quarterly 22 (Spring 1959): 3-18.

  • National Gallery of Art. Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. Reprint. Washington, DC, 1959: 59, repro.

1965

  • National Gallery of Art. Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. Washington, 1965: 68.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 60, repro.

1975

  • National Gallery of Art. European paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. Washington, 1975: 176, repro.

1981

  • Schmidt, Winfried. Studien zur Landschaftskunst Jacob van Ruisdaels: Frühwerke und Wanderjahre. Hildesheim, 1981: 156, 198 n.192.

1985

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. Washington, 1985: 203, repro.

1987

  • Sutton, Peter C. Masters of 17th-century Dutch landscape painting. Exh. cat. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Philadelphia Museum of Art. Boston, 1987: 350.

  • Formsma, Wiebe Jannes, R. A. Luitjens-Dijkveld Stol, and A. Pathuis. De Ommelander Borgen en Steenhuizen. Groninger Historische Reeks 2. 2nd revised ed. Assen, 1987: 35-37, 330-337.

1995

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1995: 113-117, color repro. 115.

1997

  • Chrysler Museum of Art. Rembrandt and the Golden Age: Dutch paintings from the National Gallery of Art. Exh. brochure. Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk. Washington, 1997: unnumbered repro.

2011

  • Slive, Seymour. Jacob van Ruisdael: Windmills and Water Mills. Los Angeles, 2011: 87, 89 fig. 63, 101 n. 71.

Inscriptions

lower right: m .hobbema . f 166[2?]

Wikidata ID

Q20177580

You may be interested in

Loading Results