Jacob van Ruisdael

(Dutch, 1628/1629–1682)

Place ActiveEurope

BiographyBorn in Haarlem, where he had an early exposure to painting through his father’s art dealing and framing business, Ruisdael entered the painters’ guild there in 1648, presumably after studying with his uncle Salomon van Ruysdael. By 1657 he was living in Amsterdam, where he seems to have spent the rest of his life. His many paintings, drawings, and etchings are devoted entirely to landscape. Ruisdael depicted a broad range of scenery, from the flat, watery landscape around Haarlem to thickly wooded mountains and forests.

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