About this artwork

This picture is a fine example of Hobbema working on a small scale, and a rare instance of him painting in an upright format. Hobbema appears to have painted most of his upright compositions after 1668, but both the style and subject of this picture are consistent with his work of the early 1660s, which was based on the paintings of Jacob van Ruisdael. This painting is a wonderful evocation of a wild woodland landscape. A solitary figure inhabits the scene and seems insignificant against the comparable power of nature. The massive trees are sturdy, dark rain clouds encroach overhead, and the gushing flow of the waterfall generates a wealth of spume as it hits off the rocks.

Updated before 2020

  • artist:
    Meindert Hobbema (1638 - 1709) Dutch
  • title:
    A Waterfall in a Wood
  • date created:
    About 1660 - 1670
  • materials:
    Oil on panel
  • measurements:
    26.90 x 22.30 cm
  • object type:
  • credit line:
    Bequest of Mrs Nisbet Hamilton Ogilvy of Biel 1921
  • accession number:
    NG 1506
  • gallery:
  • subject:
  • artwork photographed by:
    Antonia Reeve
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Meindert Hobbema

Meindert Hobbema