Salomon van Ruysdael

Salomon van Ruysdael, Dutch, 1602-1670
River Landscape with Fisherman, 1643
oil on panel, 41 13/16×29 9/16×2 1/2 in. (106.2×75.09×6.35 cm)
Ackland Art Museum, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The William A. Whitaker Foundation Art Fund

Produced in 1643 during the Dutch Golden Age, Salmon van Ruysdael’s River Landscape with Fisherman displays both unity and disunity.  Through a simplistic depiction of fishermen at sea, Ruysdael takes advantage of a dull color scheme, using different browns, grays, and dull deep blue hues to create a melancholy atmosphere. This melancholy atmosphere conveys the manner in which van Ruysdael shows the realities of competition.  His color scheme depicts competition as a dull and monotonous component of the lives of these fishermen. Though these fishermen are united in their occupation they are unable to escape the disunity found in the competition between them.

~Scott Dobbin

An Extended look at Salomon van Ruysdael’s River Landscape by Scott Dobbin

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