Dutch landscape painting, drawing, and printmaking of the 1600s comprise the first great period in a long European tradition. And like English and French artists and connoisseurs of the eighteenth century, American painters (for example, the masters of the Hudson River School) and collectors of the nineteenth century looked to Jacob van Ruisdael, his follower Meindert Hobbema, and the Haarlem innovators Jan van Goyen, Salomon van Ruysdael, and Pieter de Molijn for inspiration.
In both the Dutch Republic—by far the most urbanized country in Europe—and in America the appeal of native and foreign landscapes had much to do with their sense of escape from city life, although more topical themes were also treated. In Ruisdael's The Forest Stream, for instance, nature is about as rugged as most Dutch viewers would tolerate, whereas Van Goyen's panoramic View of Haarlem would have stirred sentiments of local and national pride.
Note: This gallery is temporarily closed to the public due to a construction project. Visitors to the Museum may inquire at the Information Desk in the Great Hall for more information.
