Meindert Hobbema, 'The Watermills at Singraven near Denekamp', probably 1665-70

The Watermills at Singraven near Denekamp

Meindert Hobbema

Not on display

About the work

Overview

The watermills depicted here still survive today – they are part of the former estate at Singraven, near Denekamp, one of the most easterly points of Holland. Hobbema seems to have been inspired to paint them because his teacher, Jacob van Ruisdael, had depicted the mills on several occasions.

While van Ruisdael was fascinated by the raw power of the water thundering through the sluices, Hobbema’s is a more tranquil vision, seen from upstream where the water is almost mirror still. Sunlight dapples the meadows and a man fishes quietly in the mill pond. But there is also plenty of energy in the painting. The leaves are composed of myriad dabbed brushstrokes, while longer, broader, sometimes swirling strokes are used for the blues and greys of the sky – short sweeps of the brush which evoke the breeze that rustles the leaves and lifts the birds wheeling above the treetops.

In-depth

Many Dutch seventeenth-century landscape paintings were not literal representations of a particular view. They might be characteristic of a certain kind of topography, but they were very often composed or exaggerated for pleasing aesthetic effects. Here, however, Hobbema seems to have gone to some trouble to paint the scene accurately. We can tell this partly because other artists also depicted the scene, and because these watermills survive today.

They were powered by the River Dinkel in and part of the former estate of the manor house at Singraven, near Denekamp, which is one of the most easterly points of Holland, close to the border with Germany. We can’t be sure, but Hobbema seems to have been inspired to paint the mills because his teacher, Jacob van Ruisdael, had depicted them several times. Van Ruisdael had travelled to Bentheim in about 1650, five years before Hobbema became his pupil, and it was presumably on that trip that he visited the watermills. He used them as the prototypes for many paintings of watermills, as in Two Watermills and an Open Sluice at Singraven.

The contrasting approach taken by master and pupil in these two examples provides a neat illustration of a more fundamental difference in their perspective on landscape painting. Van Ruisdael, fascinated by the raw power and the forces of nature, depicts the mills close up and from downstream. The churning white water thundering through the sluices is the focus of the whole painting. He also dramatises the scene by adding hills and crags which don’t exist in reality. By contrast, Hobbema’s is a more tranquil vision. His view is a wider prospect and seen from upstream where the water is almost mirror still. The trees take centre stage – as they do so often in Hobbema’s work – especially the sweeping curve of the tallest which dominates the middle of the picture.

Despite this serene world, where sunlight dapples the meadows and a man fishes quietly in the mill pond, there is plenty of energy in the painting. The leaves are composed of myriad dabbed brushstrokes of green, brown, yellow and blue. And – invisible from a distance, but clear if you look closely – thousands of tiny flecks of white paint speckle the canvas and capture the gleam of sunshine and of light reflecting off the water. For the blues and greys of the sky Hobbema used longer, broader, sometimes swirling strokes – short sweeps of the brush that inject a sense of movement in the air, evoking the breeze that rustles the leaves and lifts the birds wheeling above the treetops.

Key facts

Details

Full title: The Watermills at Singraven near Denekamp
Artist: Meindert Hobbema
Artist dates: 1638 - 1709
Date made: probably 1665-70
Medium and support: oil on wood
Dimensions: 60 × 84.5 cm
Inscription summary: Signed
Acquisition credit: Bought, 1871
Inventory number: NG832
Location: Not on display
Collection: Main Collection
Previous owners: Sir Robert Peel, 2nd Bt

Provenance

Bought from Vaillant of Amsterdam in 1824 by John Smith, who sold it to Sir Robert Peel, Bart. Purchased with the Peel collection, 1871.

Additional information

Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Neil MacLaren, revised and expanded by Christopher Brown, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School: 1600–1900’, London 1991; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.

Bibliography

1830

J. Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters: In Which is Included a Short Biographical Notice of the Artists, with a Copious Description of Their Principal Pictures […], vol. 2, London 1830
1844

A.M. Jameson, Companion to the Most Celebrated Private Galleries of Art in London: Containing Accurate Catalogues, Arranged Alphabetically, for Immediate Reference, Each Preceded by an Historical & Critical Introduction […], London 1844
1907

C. Hofstede de Groot, Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, 10 vols, London 1907
1934

K. Döhmann and W.H. Dingeldein, Singraven: De geschiedenis van een Twentsche havezate, Brussels 1934
1938

G. Broulhiet, Meindert Hobbema (1638-1709), Paris 1938
1960

Maclaren, Neil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 2 vols, London 1960
1990

B.P.J. Broos (ed.), Great Dutch Paintings from America (exh. cat. Mauritshuis, 28 September 1990 - 13 January 1991; Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, 16 February 1991 - 5 May 1991), Zwolle 1990
1991

Maclaren, Neil, revised by Christopher Brown, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 1600-1900, 2nd edn (revised and expanded), 2 vols, London 1991
1995

G.S. Keyes, 'Meindert Hobbema's "Wooded Landscape with a Water Mill"', Minneapolis Institute of Arts Bulletin, LXVII, 1995, pp. 42-57
2001

C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
2008

H.W. van Os, The Discovery of the Netherlands: Four Centuries of Landscape Painting by Dutch Masters (exh. cat. CODA Museum, 11 June - 28 September 2008), Appeldoorn 2008

About this record

If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.

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Hobbema was a specialist landscape painter – this is his only known city view, a depiction of the ordered and harmonious relationship between people and water. We are looking towards the Haarlem Lock at the point where two of Amsterdam’s most important waterways meet – the Singel on the right and...

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You've viewed 6 of 8 works

Meindert Hobbema, 'The Watermills at Singraven near Denekamp', probably 1665-70

About the work

Overview

In-depth

Key facts

Details

Provenance

Additional information

Source

Bibliography

About this record

Images

More works by Meindert Hobbema