Andries Vermeulen, 'A Scene on the Ice', about 1800
About the work
Overview
Scenes of villagers and townspeople amusing themselves on the region’s frozen lakes and canals have a long tradition in the art of the Low Countries, going right back to the work of the Flemish artist Pieter Bruegel the Elder in the mid-sixteenth century. This painting was made about 250 years later by the landscape specialist Andries Vermeulen, who was born in Dordrecht but worked for some time in Amsterdam, where he died.
It is based on the style of winter landscapes which were produced in seventeenth-century Holland, first by Hendrick Avercamp and, more particularly in this case, by Isack van Ostade. Brightly lit and dominated by the finery of the horse-drawn sleigh and its ruddy-faced occupants, this is a light-hearted work, though there are some ominous-looking cracks developing in the ice. A similar work by the artist (now in the Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt) is signed and dated 1800.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- A Scene on the Ice
- Artist
- Andries Vermeulen
- Artist dates
- 1763 - 1814
- Date made
- about 1800
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 39.8 × 49 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed
- Acquisition credit
- Bequeathed by Miss Susannah Caught, 1901
- Inventory number
- NG1850
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
Provenance
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
-
1960Maclaren, Neil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 2 vols, London 1960
-
1991Maclaren, Neil, revised by Christopher Brown, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 1600-1900, 2nd edn (revised and expanded), 2 vols, London 1991
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
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.