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A River Scene with Distant Windmills

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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Aelbert Cuyp made this painting when he was aged about 20 or 21 and it shows his early grasp of how to create a sense of distance and evoke the atmosphere of a cloudy day in the Low Countries. At the time, Cuyp was much influenced by the landscape painter Jan van Goyen. Both artists used a very restricted colour scheme of greys, browns and greens which helps capture the mood of the prevailing weather. But they avoided too much gloominess by setting the horizon very low on the canvas so that the sky dominates, filling the composition with a sense of airiness. Here, Cuyp showed his talent for other subtle light effects: he used the strongest shades in the foreground, where the water turns almost black, while the brightness in the middle of the painting lifts the atmosphere.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

A River Scene with Distant Windmills

Date

about 1640-2

Medium

Oil on oak

Measurements

H 35.6 x W 52.4 cm

Accession number

NG2545

Acquisition method

Salting Bequest, 1910

Work type

Painting

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Normally on display at

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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