PYNACKER, Adam
(b. 1620/21, Schiedam, d. 1673, Amsterdam)

The Ferryboat

c. 1657
Oil on canvas, 65 x 76 cm
The Clark Art Institute, Williamstown

Onlookers laugh as a ferryboat worker splashes into the water after a donkey. This commotion is set against a serene landscape, punctuated by the stern gentleman on the shore and the placid cow beside him. Before becoming a painter, Pynacker was a merchant, and it was on a trip to Italy that he first encountered the golden sunlight that would later infuse his paintings. Here, it bathes the landscape and adds dramatic highlights.




© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.