View of the Haarlemmermeer

Like Jacob van Ruisdael, Van Goyen painted sky for the most part, in this case a sombre mass of clouds. The landscape, offering a view of the watery area near Haarlem called the Haarlemmermeer, is painted in several closely related shades of brown, ochre-yellow, blue, and green. The tonal colour scheme contributes to the specifically Dutch atmosphere of this landscape, in which sky and water form the most important elements.