Oil Painting, 'River with Castle and Shipping', Wouter Knijff, 1645

A river scene with a castle and small boats in the distance, and spinning clouds in a wide sky with low horizon.

Bequeathed by W. C. Louch

Bequeathed by W. C. Louch, 1871

Historical significance: This painting is a good example of the Dutch production of townscapes executed by artists that usually came from the growing urban areas of Amsterdam, Haarlem and Delft, where the intricacies of the town as a motif were coincident with the increase of the population and the emergence of town planning an expansion during the 17th century. Wouter Knijff illustrates well the tradition that upraised in the second half of the century. The townscape painter Jan van der Heyden (1637-1712) would later execute a large number of Dutch townscapes and towns views and extended the convention of the theme to Brussels and the German Rhine towns as well.
The loose brushwork along with the colour scheme, steel blue in the roofs of houses and grey-black in the water, are essential characteristics of Knijff's output. He did several similar compositions with a fortified town on the left hand side and a river receding into the distance on the left: see River landscape, Crocker Art Museum, Sacramento and A fortified town by a river with figures in boats, dated 1654, sale Christie's Amsterdam (2820), 9 May 2009, lot 22. These river landscapes are reminiscent of van Goyen's compositions, especially with the spinning clouds in a wide sky with low horizon that imitate van Goyen's strong interest for atmospheric effect. In this respect, Knijff's work has also been often confused with van Goyen's: a View of Dordrecht, dated 1643, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, carries a false van Goyen signature. His tyle is however much looser than van Goyen's smooth and refined manner.

Landscape paintings were extremely popular during the 17th century and increasingly encompassed a variety of forms and genres. Dutch painters had a new attention for nature and their familiar surroundings as well as more exotic locales that Dutch travellers encountered, among which the most praised was Italy. In the early 1600s, innovative contributions to landscape paintings were made, especially by the marine painters who concentrate on the effects of light due to atmospheric condition and the sense of depth and had a great resonance on landscape painting. Panoramic views became popular in the 17th-century Netherlands and views of the Dutch countryside developed quickly, especially under the influence of Jan van Goyen (1596-1656) who developed a broken brushwork technique and used a restrained monochromatic palette of earthy colours. The end of the 17th century is remarkable for a shift in taste that came to favour more academic and classical landscapes under the influence of Italianate landscape paintings. Landscapes were then often employed as settings for mythological or historical subjects.

Wouter Knijff (ca. 1607-after 1693) became a member of the Haarlem Guild of St Luke in 1640. Very little is known about his life but was obviously influenced by Jan van Goyen's (1596-1656) palette and compositions.

This townscape was executed in a very loose brushwork, a characteristic of Wouter Knijff's style. He specialised in river landscapes in which he tent to repeat the same scheme in different versions. His landscapes can be topographically accurate but also imaginary. H.-U. Beck suggested a view of Utrecht. If not Utrecht, the present painting gives anyway a good idea of the Dutch atmospheric countryside.

1584-1871