Meindert Hobbema, 'Cottages in a Wood', about 1660
About the work
Overview
Meindert Hobbema specialised in landscapes, and particularly woodland scenes such as this. They were not usually modelled on real views, but were composed to capture the atmosphere and harmonies of woodland life. Here the three cottages seem to merge into the underwood. Switches cut from a nearby coppice form a stand in the left foreground, while the rough grey boards on the right are part of an old fence slowly being reclaimed by the woods.
Hobbema often used the device of a winding track to give a sense of depth to a scene. Here, the dark rutted curves lead our eye under the tree, past the red-brick cottage and into the sunny glade beyond. And the illusion of distance is emphasised by the figures, from the two men chatting in the foreground to the tiny walker in a blue coat on the other side of the glade. In fact this is quite a busy scene – there are ten figures scattered among the trees.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Cottages in a Wood
- Artist
- Meindert Hobbema
- Artist dates
- 1638 - 1709
- Date made
- about 1660
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 52.1 × 68 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed
- Acquisition credit
- Salting Bequest, 1910
- Inventory number
- NG2570
- 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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1898The Hope collection of Pictures of the Dutch and Flemish Schools, with Descriptions Reprinted from the Catalogue Published in 1891 by the Science and Art Department of the South Kensington Museum, London 1898
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1907C. Hofstede de Groot, Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, 10 vols, London 1907
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1960Maclaren, Neil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 2 vols, London 1960
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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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