This extensive late 17th-century oil painting by Dutch artist Jacob van der Does II (1661-1699) depicts a river landscape with a hunting party, riverside buildings, various craft, a fort, and distant hills.
Dating to around 1680, this splendid survivor from the Dutch Golden Age is a feast for eyes. On the left, hunters rest with hounds by a rutted track, cutting through a dense wood. Others ride beyond. While on the right, a winding river snakes through the landscape. It’s the lifeblood of the local populace and teeming with activity.
In addition to the numerous pockets of interest, the composition offers various routes for the eye to explore. It’s a technique that was employed by many of the more accomplished Dutch landscape painters, including Meindert Hobbema (1638-1709). We’re taken on a journey, one minute wandering through a wood under a canopy of foliage, the next, traversing a bustling waterway.
Born in The Hague to Jacob van der Does the Elder and Margaretha Boortens, van der Does the Younger was initially apprenticed to his father before studying with both Karel Dujardin (1626-1678) and Caspar Netscher (1639-1684). Dujardin was a close friend of his father’s, yet the two would often disagree at length on artistic matters. Dujardin was an advocate of what Arnold Houbraken, the biographer, described as ‘the bright’ way of painting, whereas van der Does the Elder championed ‘the brown’ way of painting.
Very few examples of the son’s works exist as it’s said he was rather temperamental and destroyed many of them. It’s also conceivable that some have mistakenly been attributed to the father. Indeed, this very piece was previously catalogued as a work by Jacob van der Does the Elder.
In around 1675, van der Does the Younger moved to Amsterdam and trained under Gerard de Lairesse (1641-1711), before returning to The Hague, where he remained for 19 years. Following the death of his father in 1673, it’s likely that he gained the patronage of additional clientele, but little is known of this period.
His brother was the artist Simon van der Does (1653-1718), whose career was blighted by poverty, in part due to his wife’s ‘spendthrift lifestyle’.
Signed in the lower left ‘D: vanderdoes :F’ and held in an ornate 19th-century frame.
Learn more about Jacob van der Does II in our directory.
Medium: Oil on panel
Overall size: 41½” x 32½” / 106cm x 83cm
Year of creation: c. 1680
Provenance: Private collection, UK.
Condition: Cleaned. Areas of fine and settled craquelure, as you would expect. The paint layer is stable. Repairs to previous cracks in panel. Frame in good condition with minor age-related wear. Frame with various marks and showing its age.
Our reference: BRV2127
