Jan Wijnants, 'A Track by a Dune, with Peasants and a Horseman', 1665
About the work
Overview
This undulating countryside of ancient sand dunes, found around Haarlem, forms the background to the vast majority of paintings by local artist Jan Wijnants. But while he captured the spirit and atmosphere of these sand hills, he also – like most painters of the time – exaggerated for effect. The range of what look like mountains in the distance in this picture, for example, must have been based on a line of much smaller dunes.
In the foreground we see the broken stump of a small tree. Wijnants often used this motif in his paintings to give a greater sense of depth to the landscape, but generally on a much larger scale. Here the dune itself dominates the picture, and the cart track meandering around it creates the illusion of depth and draws our eye into what is a relatively small picture.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- A Track by a Dune, with Peasants and a Horseman
- Artist
- Jan Wijnants
- Artist dates
- active 1643; died 1684
- Date made
- 1665
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 29.7 × 36.8 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed; Dated
- Acquisition credit
- Salting Bequest, 1910
- Inventory number
- NG2533
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Neil MacLaren, revised and expanded by Christopher Brown, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School: 1600–1900’, London 1991; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
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1830
J. Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters: In Which is Included a Short Biographical Notice of the Artists, with a Copious Description of Their Principal Pictures […], vol. 2, London 1830
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1907C. Hofstede de Groot, Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, 10 vols, London 1907
-
1960Maclaren, Neil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 2 vols, London 1960
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1976C. Brown, Art in Seventeenth Century Holland (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 30 September - 12 December 1976), London 1976
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1991Maclaren, Neil, revised by Christopher Brown, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 1600-1900, 2nd edn (revised and expanded), 2 vols, London 1991
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.