Where to See Jacob van Ruisdael

42 more museums hold works by Jacob van Ruisdael with smaller collections, not listed here.

• Where can I see Jacob van Ruisdael's work?+

  Jacob van Ruisdael's artwork can be found in numerous galleries and museums. In the UK, you can find his work at the Towneley Hall Art Gallery (Burnley, Lancashire), the Fitzwilliam Museum (Cambridge), and the National Museum of Wales (Cardiff). Several works are held by the National Gallery (London), and the Dulwich College Picture Gallery also has a few examples. Elsewhere in Europe, Ruisdael's paintings are in the collections of the Rijksmuseum Kréller-Müller (Otterlo, Netherlands), the Museum Boymans-van Beuningen (Rotterdam), the Nasjonalgalleriet (Oslo), the Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga (Lisbon), the Muzeul de Arta (Craiova, Romania), the Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow), and the Hermitage Museum (St Petersburg). In Spain, his work can be viewed at the Museo de Bellas Artes (Bilbao), the Fundacién Coleccion Thyssen-Bornemisza (Madrid), and the Museo Nacional del Prado (Madrid). Swiss galleries include the Offentliche Kunstsammlung Kunstmuseum Basel and the Musée d’Art et d’Histoire (Geneva).
• Where is Jacob van Ruisdael from?+

  Jacob van Ruisdael was Dutch, born in 1628 and died in 1682.
• Where did Jacob van Ruisdael work?+

  Jacob van Ruisdael worked in Haarlem, where he was well placed to take advantage of what the town offered. He also painted views of the Dutch countryside around Haarlem.
• What should I know about Jacob van Ruisdael's prints?+

  Jacob van Ruisdael (1628/29-1682) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, known for his poetic depictions of the Dutch countryside. While he is celebrated for his paintings, his work also extended to prints, though these are less widely discussed. Ruisdael's approach to art involved a close observation of reality. He paid great attention to detail when portraying the Dutch landscape. He would then exaggerate and rearrange these details to heighten the atmosphere and sentiment within the work. The appreciation for Ruisdael's art grew significantly in the 18th century. Travellers often compared real-world views to his paintings, as noted by Johann Ludwig Aberli in 1774. Collectors, including royalty, acquired his works. For example, William VIII purchased Ruisdael's *Waterfall* in 1750 for his collection in Kassel. Augustus II and Augustus III Wettin also bought several paintings for the Dresden Gallery. Catherine II acquired multiple works by Ruisdael in the 1760s and 1770 from collections in Geneva and from Heinrich von Brühl.
• Why are Jacob van Ruisdael's works important today?+

  Jacob van Ruisdael (1628-1682) epitomises the Dutch school of painting; his works are what many people think of when they consider the genre. He painted rustic views, and his technical ability, charm, and originality gained him patronage from high society. Born in Haarlem, Ruisdael was well-placed to become a successful artist. His father, Isaack, was an art dealer, frame maker, and painter, who gave Jacob his earliest lessons. His uncle, Salomon van Ruisdael, was also a celebrated artist. In 1634, the painter Jan van Goyen even lived in the Ruisdael household. Haarlem was central to the development of Dutch approaches to representing the countryside. Artists such as Esaias van de Velde and Jan van Goyen created realistic rather than idealised scenes. Ruisdael's paintings depict what he observed. His *Wheatfields* (1660s), for example, shows a country road with walkers leading to trees and a small house. Sunlight falls on grain between shadows cast by clouds. *Wooded Country Road* (in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art) depicts a fork in a dirt path, where shepherds navigate a puddle. His views of Haarlem often show St. Bavo’s Church and rows of linen being bleached.
• Wie was Jacob van Ruisdael?+

  Jacob van Ruisdael was a Dutch landscape painter who took his name from the castle of Ruisdael, which was located about 30 kilometres from Amsterdam.
• What techniques or materials did Jacob van Ruisdael use?+

  Jacob van Ruisdael was born in Haarlem in 1628. His father, Isaack, was an art dealer, frame maker, and painter of outdoor scenes; his uncle, Salomon van Ruisdael, was a celebrated artist. Jacob received early instruction from his father, and the two sometimes painted the same views side by side. Ruisdael painted rustic scenes. By 1656, when he moved to Amsterdam, he had a strong reputation for the technical quality and originality of his work. His paintings often feature expansive skies with light and dark clouds. He captured the natural world, not an idealised realm. Ruisdael instilled a sense of grandeur and drama into his works. He depicted both the flat plains of Holland and the more rugged areas of northern Germany. He is considered one of the most versatile of all seventeenth-century Dutch painters. He died in Amsterdam in 1682.
• Who did Jacob van Ruisdael influence?+

  Jacob van Ruisdael (1628/9-1682) is considered a key figure in Dutch Golden Age painting. His influence is most directly seen in the work of Meindert Hobbema (1638-1709), who was his student and friend. Ruisdael's style came to epitomise Dutch landscape painting. Ruisdael's work encompassed a range of Dutch scenery. He painted rural scenes with dunes and canals, as well as seascapes and panoramic views. He also created wilder scenes inspired by Allaert van Everdingen's Scandinavian views. His landscapes ranged in tone, from grand to intimate. Ruisdael's early exposure to art came through his father, an art dealer. He was also taught by Isaack van Ruisdael and Salomon van Ruysdael. He may have observed Jan van Goyen at work; van Goyen lived in the Ruisdael household in 1634. By 1656, when Ruisdael moved to Amsterdam, he had a reputation for technical skill and originality.