Landscape with a Footbridge

Although the exact locality of this landscape has not been determined, the hilly conformation of the countryside, as well as the date of the work, suggest that the site may have been in the province of Overijssel, near the Dutch-German frontier, where Ruisdael visited in 1650. Previously he had generally depicted the flatter countryside of central Holland. The painting demonstrates the youthful artist’s special gift for rendering subtle effects of light, evident in the pale sun that filters through the clouds to dapple the landscape and reflect from the surface of the stream. The realistic treatment of the gnarled oak tree at left is typical of his close observation of nature. The figures apparently were added by another hand, as was Ruisdael’s usual practice.

Source: Art in The Frick Collection: Paintings, Sculpture, Decorative Arts, New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1996.

Samuel Ireland, London, by 1786. John Calvert Wombwell, London, by 1854; K. Papin, Paris (Drouot), March 28–29, 1873, no 26 (fr. 61,000); Baron Albert von Rothschild [1844–1910], Vienna; inherited by his son Baron Louis von Rothschild [1882–1955]; confiscated by the Nazis soon after the German annexation of Austria, March 12, 1938; returned to Baron Louis von Rothschild after World War II; sold through Rosenberg & Stiebel, New York (agents for the Rothschild family); Frick, 1949.

Sources: Paintings in The Frick Collection: American, British, Dutch, Flemish and German. Volume I. New York: The Frick Collection, 1968. Seymour Slive, Jacob van Ruisdael: A Complete Catalogue of His Paintings, Drawings and Etchings. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2000. pp. 373-375.