Lot 1269 Dα

This painting is an early work from the 21 year old Meindert Hobbema. Whilst painting it in 1659 he was still working under the tutelage of Jacob van Ruisdael. However, the style of this important landscape artist was already so far developed that it is fully recognisable in the picture. In particular, the horizontal structure of the picture surface stands out, where the light areas contrast with the dark. Hobbema often painted squat buildings under the trees, such as the grey-brown cottage here. The minimal number of decorative figures is also typical, in this case consisting only of a farming couple. This is comparable to the large picture from the Fürsten Liechtenstein collection of 1655, although they are depicted coming from the opposite direction. As seen in many works, including later examples, a sandy path leads diagonally into the scene from the lower left corner.
Apart from only a few exceptions, all the dated works from Hobbema are from between 1658 and 1668. This decade was without doubt his most productive and creative. With an early developed, distinctive landscape concept, his wooded dune landscapes have inspired viewers of his pictures over the generations. John Constable wrote in 1824: 'What if Vander Velde had quitted his sea pieces, or Ruysdael his waterfalls, or Hobbema his native woods. The world would have lost so many features in art?'