A Winter Landscape

This small winter scene exemplifies Van de Velde’s masterful graphic and painting techniques, which were instrumental in the development of naturalistic landscapes in the Northern Netherlands. Visible to the naked eye, an underdrawing is painted in light brown on a white ground. The artist then selectively added layers of color for highlights or greater definition. Exposing the streaks of the woodgrain of the panel, Van de Velde swiftly executed the landscape with broad brushstrokes and thinly applied paint to convey the textured surfaces of the ice, trees, and wooden huts, the passage of the wind, and the movement of the clouds. The figures were added at a later stage in the composition. The immediacy and conciseness of Van de Velde’s paintingpractice were influential to the work of his famous pupil, Jan van Goyen, whose work is shown nearby.