September 13, 2016
The 17th century painter Jacob van Ruisdael could paint clouds like few before or after him. I’d like to hop around to three cities to look at his paintings in the respective collections of the National Gallery in London (20), the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (16), and the Hermitage in St. Petersburg (9) – where I have never been.
Van Ruisdael has lately been picked up again by many an art critic with the acknowledgment that he was for some time underrated. People nowadays are effusive in their praise, and imaginative in their interpretations of his work.
The Guardian art critic Waldemar Januszczak wrote in 2006:”Ruisdael really doesn’t deserve to be underrated. ..[H]e was a prodigy whom we should rank at number 8 or 9 on the Mozart scale.” The link below shows some of his famous cloud paintings. http://www.ecology.com/2014/04/09/quintet-cloudscapes-jacob-isaackzs/
Jacob van Ruisdael c. 1628 Mountainous Landscape (Hermitage, St. Petersburg)
I am adding photographs of cloud-scapes taken in Holland, his home turf, in the vicinity of Egmond aan Zee.
The Shore at Egmond-aan-Zee, c. 1675,
Jacob van Ruisdael, The National Gallery, London
And since we are fantasizing, once in St. Petersburg I would hitch a ride on the Trans-Siberian train to China – since the next stop on the exhibition circuit will be Korea.
Martha Ullman West
Is it fair to say that the judgement of art critics has been clouded? I’m not familiar with this painter, thank you for the education about him, and for your own very beautiful photographs.
F.X.
also Turner’s clouds are worth looking at and appreciating…. nice YDP Fri!