A Wooded Landscape

Hobbema was Jacob van Ruisdael’s most important follower and his only documented pupil. In the beginning the influence of the older master is unmistakable. In 1663 Hobbema’s style gained more independence and, during this and the following years up to 1668, he created a series of masterpieces which gave him an outstanding position side by side with Ruisdael among the great landscapists of Holland.

Hobbema’s outlook on nature is less brooding, more sunny, and vivacious than Ruisdael’s. While the latter favoured compactness of form and composition, Hobbema’s tree groups are less tightly built, and their silhouettes are rather feathery. He likes to open up his compositions with various outlooks into a shiny distance, and his luminous skies of an intense white and blue permeate the whole with sparkling daylight. Hobbema’s painterly touch is more fluid, and the colours are richly varied in an interplay of bright green and light brown, fine greys, and reds. Often an appealing blond tonality prevails.