Wooded and Hilly Landscape, 1660s (oil on canvas)

Jacob van Ruisdael, one of the most eminent Dutch landscape painters, is revered for his brooding woodland compositions. With much of this painting's composition dedicated to nature alone, an underlying sense of sublimity is heightened by Ruisdael through the inclusion of several diminutive figures. A mother and child trudge through a weathered path in the foreground, their pet dog following closely at their side, while a lone traveler approaches from the foliage ahead of them. This work is an excellent representation of the artist's later period, speaking to both his preoccupation with meticulous detail and the transitory relationship between humans and nature. --Charles Eppley (January 2009)