RUISDAEL (RUYSDAEL), van, Dutch family of painters

Isaac van Ruysdael (1599-1677), and his brother Salomon van Ruysdael were landscape painters. Salomon is best known for his atmospheric, almost monochromatic, river scenes, painted in the 1630s during the 'tonal phase' of Dutch art. His work in this genre is very close in style to that of Jan van Goyen, and their paintings have often been confused.

Isaac's son, Jacob van Ruisdael, was the most outstanding of the Ruisdael family, and his paintings, mostly landscapes, are world-famed. He is regarded as the principal figure among Dutch landscape painters of the second half of the 17th century. His naturalistic compositions and style of representing massive forms and his colour range constituted a new direction away from the 'tonal phase' associated with the previous generation of landscape painters and exemplified by the work of his uncle Salomon.




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