# A Cottage in the Woods

**Meindert Hobbema** (Dutch, 1638–1709)  
c. 1662  
oil on canvas  
Framed: 122.5 x 149 x 12 cm (48 1/4 x 58 11/16 x 4 3/4 in.); Unframed: 84 x 111.4 cm (33 1/16 x 43 7/8 in.)

Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art, 1942.641. [The museum's record](https://clevelandart.org/art/1942.641).

## 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._

Meindert Hobbema painted this in about 1662, aged about 19. It is now at 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](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/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._

## Facts

- Type: Painting
- Culture: Netherlands
- The artist was about 19
- Real size: about 33 × 44 in (84 × 111 cm). The original is larger than our largest print, 20 × 30 in, so every print is a reduction.
- Century: 17th century
- Movement: [Dutch Golden Age](https://www.ochreeditions.com/movements/dutch-golden-age)
- Colour: brown
- Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose.

## Get it

- Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/553.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/553/1920.jpg
- Giclée reproduction on Hahnemühle Photo Rag: 8 × 10 in $28; 11 × 14 in $38; 12 × 16 in $42; 16 × 20 in $56; 18 × 24 in $68; 20 × 30 in $86
- Framed reproduction: 8 × 10 in $78; 11 × 14 in $98; 12 × 16 in $108; 16 × 20 in $138; 18 × 24 in $164; 20 × 30 in $208
- Canvas reproduction: 8 × 10 in $58; 11 × 14 in $72; 12 × 16 in $79; 16 × 20 in $98
- Print-ready file: 8 × 10 in $2; 11 × 14 in $2; 12 × 16 in $3; 16 × 20 in $3; 18 × 24 in $3; 20 × 30 in $5

Sizes stop where the museum's file would print below 150 pixels per inch. Everything sold is a reproduction, made to order. [Order a print](https://www.ochreeditions.com/art/a-cottage-in-the-woods-cma-122345).