Meindert Hobbema, 'A Stream by a Wood', about 1663
About the work
Overview
This is a study for a larger picture by Meindert Hobbema in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam, and by comparing the two we can get an insight into how he worked. Instead of painting accurate, identifiable views based on a real scene, Hobbema – and many other landscape specialists of the time – adapted their compositions according to the effect they wanted to achieve.
In both versions, Hobbema used the shape of the treeline, the curve of the path and the pond in the middle of the painting as a structure. But for the finished work in Rotterdam he dropped the willow pollards in the centre and the dead branch which is so prominent in the study. He made the scene more animated – moving the three figures further forward and turning one into a shepherd driving a small group of sheep – and widened the view, adding a road and two more figures on the left-hand side.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- A Stream by a Wood
- Artist
- Meindert Hobbema
- Artist dates
- 1638 - 1709
- Date made
- about 1663
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 31.4 × 40.1 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Bought, 1871
- Inventory number
- NG833
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
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
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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
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1844A.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
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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.
Images
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