The Omval

1645
Not on view
This landscape represents a familiar spot outside Amsterdam that Rembrandt recorded in several drawings. It is a peninsula, known then and now as "De Omval," after a ruin that had once stood there (the Dutch word omvallen means to fall down). On the far bank of the Amstel River sit houses and a mill near the Watergraafsmeer neighborhood’s ring dike, whose waters flow into the river. The distant structures are clearly composed with confident etched lines. In contrast, the large willow tree that dominates the scene and conceals a pair of lovers in its blurred, almost textural shadows dramatically demonstrates the effect of combining etching and drypoint.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Omval
  • Artist: Rembrandt (Rembrandt van Rijn) (Dutch, Leiden 1606–1669 Amsterdam)
  • Date: 1645
  • Medium: Etching and drypoint; second state of two
  • Dimensions: sheet: 7 7/16 x 9 1/16 in. (18.9 x 23 cm) (about 1/16 in. margin)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: H. O. Havemeyer Collection, Bequest of Mrs. H.O. Havemeyer, 1929
  • Object Number: 29.107.29
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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