(bapt. Amsterdam, 31 Oct. 1638; d Amsterdam, 7 Dec. 1709). Dutch landscape painter, active in Amsterdam, where he was the friend and only documented pupil of Jacob van Ruisdael. Some of his pictures are very like Ruisdael's, but he was brighter in temperament and narrower in range, painting favourite subjects, particularly watermills and trees around a pool, over and over again. In 1668 he began working for Amsterdam customs and excise, supervising the weighing and measuring of imported wine, and thereafter seems to have painted only in his spare time. However, his most famous work, The Avenue at Middelharnis (NG, London), dates from 1689; it is considered the swansong of the great age of Dutch landscape. Hobbema has long been a popular artist in England (his influence is clear in Gainsborough's early landscapes) and he is outstandingly well represented in English collections.