Aert van der Neer
RIVERSCAPE IN THE MOONLIGHT
Oil on panel. 34 x 36 cm.
AVDN (ligiert, auf der Brücke).
Aert van der Neer is the great painter of atmosphere among the Dutch artists of his time. The realistic or topographical depiction of a landscape or a place is of minor importance in his paintings. To him, their appearance at different times of day and in varying light is what is of interest to him. In his best works, van der Neer is a master of nocturnal colour. The pictures that develop out of the dark may have their origin in the Dutch tradition of tonal painting - such as in the work of the mature van Goyen - but above all they are the result of his poetic perception of nature. No other painter of the period was able to infuse the colourless night and the grey and brown shadows of the pale moonlight and make them glow, and extract so much colour from the night sky. Our small, almost square picture (being in excellent condition) is a masterpiece in this class. Fredo Bachmann dates it to the 1650s. His colours, the author continues, form "a rare and exciting accord between brown-orange and Venetian red (iron Oxide red), lightened by golden yellow, next to the blue-grey and the dark brown of the earth; and in the middle of all of it, the opaque white of the full moon and its mirror image in the water".
Aert van der Neer is the great painter of atmosphere among the Dutch artists of his time. The realistic or topographical depiction of a landscape or a place is of minor importance in his paintings. To him, their appearance at different times of day and in varying light is what is of interest to him. In his best works, van der Neer is a master of nocturnal colour. The pictures that develop out of the dark may have their origin in the Dutch tradition of tonal painting - such as in the work of the mature van Goyen - but above all they are the result of his poetic perception of nature. No other painter of the period was able to infuse the colourless night and the grey and brown shadows of the pale moonlight and make them glow, and extract so much colour from the night sky. Our small, almost square picture (being in excellent condition) is a masterpiece in this class. Fredo Bachmann dates it to the 1650s. His colours, the author continues, form "a rare and exciting accord between brown-orange and Venetian red (iron Oxide red), lightened by golden yellow, next to the blue-grey and the dark brown of the earth; and in the middle of all of it, the opaque white of the full moon and its mirror image in the water".
Certificate
C. Hofstede de Groot, 2. Januar 1927 (copy).
Provenance
Kunsthandel R. Beckers, Düsseldorf. - Richard Green, London, Catalogue 1979, no. 14, p. 32, ill. p. 33. - Private collection, Germany.
Literature
Weltkunst 15.5.1979. - Fredo Bachmann: Aert van der Neer, Bremen 1982, p. 105, ill. 69 and 73. - Wolfgang Schulz: Aert van der Neer, Doornspijk 2002, p. 406, no. 1117.
Exhibitions
Bremen, Kunsthalle 1979, Cat. No. 283. - Kiew 1979, Cat. No. 394.