River View near Deventer, Salomon van Ruysdael, 1645 – (Salomon Van Ruysdael) ◄ Previous Next ►

Artist: Salomon Van Ruysdael

Date: 1645

Size: 108 x 149 cm

Technique: Oil On Canvas

This landscape is one of the kind that Salomon van Ruysdael depicted regularly from the early 1640s to the early 1650s: a diagonal composition with a bank on the right and a river on the left, with a scene in the foreground centring around a rowing or a fishing boat, or a ferry.3 On the land there is always a group of trees and a building or village to the right of it, and the left background invariably includes a town, castle or meadows. In this case the settlement in the far distance can be identified as Deventer, as Stechow was the first to note in 1938.4 The most prominent reference points are the two spires of the Bergkerk and the tower of the Lebuinuskerk. The relative positions of the churches and the city’s location to the right of the water identify this as a sight from the south. Despite the topographical elements, however, the landscape is not realistic. A look at a map shows that the village on the right should be Colmschate, were it not for the fact that in reality it does not lie by the river and never had a church spire like the one shown here.5 Van Ruysdael’s oeuvre comprises three other river scenes that contain elements from this panorama of Deventer. He first recorded it in 1641, from roughly the same vantage point.6 A later landscape with a ferry has a similar view,7 and a 1657 painting of Deventer seen from the north shows the city on the left bank with the Lebuinuskerk prominent in the centre.8 The yellow glow on the horizon in the present picture suggests that the sun is low in the sky, either in the morning or evening. It is difficult to make out what is happening on the right bank of the river, for the three figures by the large tree, one of whom is repairing a fishing net, are difficult to distinguish from each other. This passage has become very monochrome through wear.9 There would have been less contrast in the original scene, and the sunlit roofs in the village would not have stood out so much. The painting dates from a time when Van Ruysdael was changing to a more colourful palette, as can be seen from the blue sky and the clouds tinged pink by the sun. The only bright accent in the foreground is the red coat of the man in the boat. Richard Harmanni, 2023 See Key to abbreviations, Rijksmuseum painting catalogues and Acknowledgements