Jacob van Ruisdael

Jacob van Ruisdael was a prolific Dutch landscape painter, said to have produced hundreds of works in his career. Van Ruisdael first studied painting with his father and uncle, Isaak and Salomon van Ruisdael. He received his formal training in landscape painting in Germany, and traveled frequently between the two countries before settling in Amsterdam. As a result, many of the scenes featured in his paintings are a fictionalized hybrid between the Dutch and German countryside. Trees, waterfalls, and windmills are recurring motifs in his compositions, which are characteristically rendered with thick impasto and rich colors. During his time in Amsterdam, van Ruisdael also served as a mentor and instructor for young Dutch artists, including Jan van Kessel and Meindert Hobbema.