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Thread: Jacob van Ruisdael (c1629-82) is considered, together with Hobbema (his student), one of the two greatest landscape artists of the Golden Age. He created magnificent images of the Dutch countryside with rolling clouds & spotlit wheat fields. 
He was born in Haarlem into a family of landscape painters. His uncle Salomon van Ruysdael, also considered an important landscapist, may have been his teacher. He also studied other Dutch painters. Salomon van Ruysdael (1648) A Country Road.
His first known works are from 1646. Within 2y he was admitted to the Haarlem Guild of St Luke & thus independent. Landscape painting was growing in fashionability by this time. Landscape with House (c1646), Landscape with Hut (1646) & Bridge with a Sluice (c1648-9)
He visited Egmond aan Zee & Rhenen (both in NL) in the 1640s. Veracity was important to him in depicting trees - to the point that the species can be identified. The Thicket (1649), Landscape with Windmills near Haarlem (c1650-2) & The Cloister (c1650-5)
Van Ruisdael visited Bentheim & Steinfurt (both in Germany) with the Italianate painter Berchem in 1650. Two Watermills (1650s & 1650-2) & Castle at Bentheim (1651). Some of his paintings use trees to illustrate the symbolism of human life.
His trip to Germany changed how he approached painting. Works become more heroic & he discovered the water mill as a subject - one that many artists after him would emulate. Village at Woods Edge (1651), The Great Oak (1652) & View of Bentheim Castle (1652)
One of his greatest series is of Bentheim Castle. The canvas in @NGIreland is believed to be the masterpiece of the group (first pic - before cleaning). Bentheim Castle (1653 & 1653-7) & The Jewish Cemetery (1655-60)
By 1657 van Ruisdael had moved to the centre of the Dutch art market, Amsterdam. He lived there for the rest of his life. View of Amsterdam (1656), Landscape with Wheat Field (c1657-63) & Jewish Cemetery (1657)
Van Ruisdael was financially successful & his work was sought after. It evoked the Rising patriotism of the Dutch upper middle classes. Farmhouses on a High Road (1658-60), Waterfall (1660s) & Landscape with Cornfield (1660-9)
He travelled with Hobbema to Germany again in 1661 via the hilly & wild landscape of the Veluwe. Road through Cornfields on the Zuider Zee (1660-2), The Ray of Sunlight (1660) & Extensive Landscape (1665-72)
Van Ruisdael remained in contact with Hobbema & was witness to his marriage in 1668. Landscape with Church & Village (1665-70), Waterfall near a Village (c1665-70) & Stormy Sea (1668)
In later life van Ruisdael would focus more on mountains - with the key exception of Italianate works he painted nearly every kind of landscape. Bleaching Ground near Haarlem (1670), Landscape with View of Haarlem (1670-5) & Panoramic View of Haarlem (c1670)
His picture of the Dam shows the late medieval city hall & ships, on which the city’s prosperity stood, moored behind. Sunrise in a Wood (c1670), The Dam in Amsterdam (1670) & the Windmill at Wijk bij Duurstede (1670)
Although he painted many ‘Norwegian’ landscapes it’s believed these are imaginary as there is no record of him visiting Scandinavia. Winter Landscape (1670s), View on the Amstel with Amsterdam (c1675-80) & Norwegian Landscape (nd)
The artist died in 1682 & was buried at St Bavo’s in Haarlem. Landscape with Dunes near Haarlem (nd), The Wheatfield (nd) & Winter Landscape (nd). He has left us with beautiful images of the wide skies, gentle landscape & spires of the Dutch 17th C landscape
If you are interested in supporting a contemporary artist I courier deliver my artwork worldwide from Ireland - DM for details
Just as a side-note many old master paintings have browning varnish occluding them. As a result, to get a feel for how they looked when new I use photoshop to remove the varnish & restore the subtlety of tones. Even so some works are so browned it can be hard to get a clear idea.
Meindert Hobbema (1638-1709) was van Ruisdael’s great student. You can see his Middelharnis in @NationalGallery & Road on a Dyke in @NGIreland
