A Cottage in the Woodsc. 1662
Inspired by the native Dutch landscape, Meindert Hobbema specialized in scenes of dense forest growth punctured by winding paths and views toward sunlit clearings that beckon with fertile fields and rustic cottages. More about this work
About this work
Inspired by the native Dutch landscape, Meindert Hobbema specialized in scenes of dense forest growth punctured by winding paths and views toward sunlit clearings that beckon with fertile fields and rustic cottages. Hobbema’s paintings were especially popular among Dutch citizens, who took enormous pride in their land. In addition to nationalistic pride in having recently gained independence from Spain, there was also a profound awareness of the preciousness of land in a low-lying nation, which required dikes, pumps, and constant vigilance to guard against flooding. While the Dutch earned much of their considerable wealth from sea trade, agriculture and livestock were important sources of prosperity.
Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art.
How it was made
- Oil paint
- Pigment ground in a drying oil, usually linseed. It dries slowly, so painters could blend on the canvas, build up thin translucent glazes, and rework a picture over weeks. Canvas replaced wooden panels in the 1500s because it is lighter and can be rolled.
Meindert Hobbema
Dutch, 1638–1709
Hobbema studied with Jacob van Ruisdael in Amsterdam in the late 1650s and became the most accomplished of his followers, painting sunlit woodland, watermills, cottages and country roads. In 1668 he married and took a post as a wine gauger for the city of Amsterdam, after which he painted far less. Long overlooked, his work was keenly collected in Britain in the nineteenth century and influenced English landscape painting.
Written by Ochre Editions.
Dutch Golden Age
Seventeenth-century painting from the Dutch Republic: still lifes, interiors, portraits and flat, wide skies.
Rights and the museum’s record
Public domain. The Cleveland Museum of Art has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.
- Object number
- 1942.641
- Credit
- Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
- Type
- Painting
- Department
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Licence
- CC0 1.0 Universal
- Museum record
- See it on the museum’s site
