# Dunes by the Sea **Jacob van Ruisdael** (Dutch, 1628/29–1682) 1648 oil on panel overall: 45.4 × 61.6 cm (17 7/8 × 24 1/4 in.) framed: 64.77 × 83.19 cm (25 1/2 × 32 3/4 in.) Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, 2017.55.1. [The museum's record](https://www.nga.gov/collection/art-object-page.210038.html). ## About this work A steep sandy dune, thick with grass, shrubs and broken trees, rises at the right above a curving shore where white ripples swirl in steel-blue water; a red brick wall cuts up through the vegetation, and cattle graze on a distant rise. Jacob van Ruisdael signed and dated the panel in 1648, when he was only about nineteen or twenty, and it already shows the close study of nature that would make him the most admired Dutch landscape painter of his age. The twisting branches and the sheer edge of the dune give a humble stretch of coast real drama. _Written by Ochre Editions._ Jacob van Ruisdael painted this in 1648, aged 20. It is now at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. ### What you’re looking at Water laps at a curving shoreline in front of a steep sandy dune carpeted in grass, shrubs, and trees in this horizontal landscape painting. The dune takes up the lower right quadrant of the composition. A few broken tree trunks are overgrown with vines and plants across the top and down the sloping side of the dune facing us. A red brick wall cuts through the vegetation up the side of the dune and disappears into the shrubbery at the top. The twisting branches and canopies of three large trees reach into the upper right quadrant of the composition. The vegetation stops abruptly along the sheer edge of the dune where it faces the water. The land curves like a backward capital letter C so it almost reaches the left edge of the painting along the horizon, which comes a quarter of the way up the composition. A cow and three more animals, perhaps sheep or more cows, graze or lie on a grassy mound in the distance, and sailboats line the horizon in the deep distance. White ripples swirl in the steel-blue water. The artist signed and dated the lower center, “J Ruisdael . 1648.” _Description from the National Gallery of Art._ ### How it was made - **Oil on panel.** Oil paint on prepared wooden boards, usually oak in the north and poplar in Italy. The rigid, smooth surface suits fine detail and thin, glowing glazes. - **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. ### [Jacob van Ruisdael](https://www.ochreeditions.com/artists/jacob-van-ruisdael) Dutch, 1628/29–1682; born in Haarlem; died in Amsterdam Ruisdael was the leading Dutch landscape painter of the seventeenth century. Probably trained by his father Isaack and his uncle Salomon van Ruysdael in Haarlem, he painted dunes, woods, waterfalls, beaches and wheat fields under towering skies, giving familiar scenery a dramatic, sometimes melancholy weight. He moved to Amsterdam around 1656, and Meindert Hobbema was his pupil. Views such as Wheat Fields show his gift for the low Dutch horizon and the moving clouds above it. _Written by Ochre Editions._ ## Facts - Type: Painting - The artist was 20 - Real size: about 18 × 24 in (45 × 62 cm). The 18 × 24 in print is close to life size. - Century: 17th century - Subjects: Netherlands, Coastal scene, landscape - Colour: grey - Rights: public domain (CC0 1.0); free to use for any purpose. ## Get it - Free download, full resolution: https://img.ochreeditions.com/m/1694.jpg?dl=1 - Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/1694/1920.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; 18 × 24 in $118; 20 × 30 in $148 - 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/dunes-by-the-sea-nga-210038).