# The Watermill with the Great Red Roof

**Meindert Hobbema** (Dutch, 1638–1709)  
c. 1665  
Oil on canvas  
81.3 × 110 cm (32 × 43 1/4 in.); Framed: 101.3 × 130.5 × 8.3 cm (39 7/8 × 51 3/8 × 3 1/4 in.)

Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago, 1894.1031. [The museum's record](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/869).

## About this work

A watermill with a striking red roof stands beside a muddy brown river at the right, water churning through its wheel, while a twisting tree leans across the foreground and three small figures pass in the distance under a grey and blue sky. Meindert Hobbema, a pupil of Jacob van Ruisdael, made watermills one of his favourite subjects, painting the same or similar mills many times in the 1660s. His landscapes, with their dappled light and carefully observed textures of wood, water and leaves, were especially admired by British collectors in later centuries.

_Written by Ochre Editions._

Meindert Hobbema painted this in about 1665, aged about 22. It is now at the Art Institute of Chicago.

### What you’re looking at

Landscape painting featuring a wavy tree tree in the foreground and a watermill with a red roof adjacent to a river at right. Colors are subdued earth tones, the foliage a dark green and the river a muddy brown. Water flows through the mill wheel under a cloudy sky of gray and blue. Three individuals can be seen in the distance at left.

_Description from the Art Institute of Chicago._

### 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: Holland
- The artist was about 22
- Real size: about 32 × 43 in (81 × 110 cm). The 30 × 40 in print is close to life size.
- Century: 17th century
- Subjects: landscapes, ducks, river, water, clouds, trees, man, figure
- 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/3.jpg?dl=1
- Image: https://img.ochreeditions.com/a/3/1920.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; 24 × 36 in $108; 30 × 40 in $148
- 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; 24 × 36 in $258; 30 × 40 in $338
- 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; 24 × 36 in $178; 30 × 40 in $228
- 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; 24 × 36 in $5; 30 × 40 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/the-watermill-with-the-great-red-roof-aic-869).