A collector’s guide to Dutch landscape painters

Born in Leiden in 1596, Jan Josefsz. van Goyen was one of the most important painters of naturalistic landscapes in the Netherlands. He apprenticed with Esaias van de Velde (1587-1630) — whose candid depictions of the local countryside stood in stark contrast to the picturesque, highly coloured landscapes of his Flemish contemporaries — and later became a key member of the so-called ‘tonal’ school.

Active in Haarlem between the late 1620s and 1640s, the tonalists focused on the harmony, peace and beauty of the Dutch landscape. Van Goyen favoured low horizons, sweeping diagonal compositions and a limited palette of greys, greens, tans and blues. He frequently produced drawings directly from nature, which he later worked up into paintings in the studio.

Jan Both exemplifies the fusion of Dutch realism with the Italianate style, a hallmark of his career following his transformative travels to Italy. His landscapes, bathed in the golden light of the Roman Campagna, reflect an idealised vision of nature, infused with narrative elements that add human drama to his compositions. An Italianate Landscape with Bandits Leading Prisoners demonstrates Both’s mastery of chiaroscuro and atmospheric perspective, combining rugged terrain with evocative storytelling, blending Dutch attention to detail with Mediterranean warmth. Both's legacy lies in his transformative vision, bridging two artistic worlds.

Alongside Jan Josefsz. van Goyen, Salomon van Ruysdael is hailed as one of the founding fathers of the naturalistic landscape in early 17th-century Holland. Like Van Goyen, he was influenced by Esais van de Velde, and experimented with the effects of tone in the creation of atmosphere. He rose to prominence with his river and estuary scenes, featuring sailing boats, laden cargo vessels and skating villagers.

In An estuary scene with a distant view of Haarlem and An estuary scene with light shipping, the overall impression is one of harmony, effortless in design and so fluid in execution that it could have been painted en plein air — although, in fact, it was meticulously planned and likely to have been worked up in the studio from sketches made in the field.

By the 1640s, Dutch landscape artists had begun to work on a bigger scale and to introduce more vibrant colours, as well as dramatic effects of light and shade. At the helm of this new ‘classical’ style was Salomon van Ruysdael’s nephew, Jacob van Ruisdael, now widely acknowledged as the greatest of all Dutch landscape painters.

Although Van Ruisdael, too, focused on the local topography, he painted a wider range of subjects, including wooded groves, dunes, waterfalls, forests and watermills, with a sense of majesty and grandeur. Two Van Ruisdael landscapes — a view of a forest (above) and an estuary river scene (below) — are being offered in the Old Masters sale on 5 February 2025 in New York.

Gerrit Berckheyde occupies a distinguished place among Dutch Golden Age painters for his luminous and architecturally precise cityscapes. Trained in Haarlem alongside his brother Job, Berckheyde developed a meticulous style characterised by mathematical perspective and an acute sensitivity to light. His masterful depictions of urban centers—particularly Haarlem, Amsterdam, and The Hague—capture the monumental elegance of civic architecture while subtly reflecting the socio-economic pride of the Dutch Republic. Works such as The Grote Markt in Haarlem showcase his ability to balance topographical accuracy with atmospheric serenity, cementing his reputation as a vital chronicler of the Dutch urban landscape and its cultural identity.

It is only since the mid-1960s that Pieter Molijn has truly begun to be recognised as one of the leading figures of early 17th-century Dutch landscape painting.

He was born to Belgian parents in London in 1595, and the family moved to the Netherlands in the first decade of the 17th century. In 1616 Molijn travelled to Haarlem, then one of the most important centres of artistic production in the country, where he became a member of the Guild of St. Luke.

Like Van Goyen, Molijn worked in the tonal style, employing a restricted palette of earthy colours. Constructed in bands of light and shade, the river scene above has his signature diagonal emphasis, which adds a sense of depth to the composition.

Aert van der Neer was a contemporary and friend of Aelbert Jacobsz. Cuyp (1620-1691), who collaborated with him on a number of works. Born in Gorinchem, he is thought to have become a painter through his marriage to the sister of the Amsterdam artists Raphael Govertsz. Camphuysen (1598-1657) and Joachim Govertsz. Camphuysen (1601-1659).

Van de Neer struggled to support his wife and six children with his art, however, and when he died in 1677, the paintings he had with him were valued at only five shillings apiece. Today, however, the moonlit river scenes he painted from 1640 onwards are highly sought-after: in the first half of the 20th century, this landscape kept company with Vermeer’s Woman Writing a Letter, with her Maid in the Beit collection.

Born in Haarlem, Isaac Jansz. van Ostade started out in genre painting like his elder brother and teacher Adriaen (1610-1685), but by his early twenties he had switched to landscapes in the style of Esaias van de Velde and Salomon van Ruysdael.

While his preferred subject matter was now frozen canals and the roadside inns that became his signature, his early mastery of genre figures was evident in the acutely observed and often wittily conceived people and animals that animated his work.

Although Isaac was only 28 when he died, his skill was such that the Dutch art historian Cornelis Hofstede de Groot (1863-1930) considered him ‘among the great painters of the 17th century’.

The 350 or so paintings catalogued by Hofstede de Groot include a number of icescapes featuring a white horse — another Van Ostade trademark — now held at the Louvre, the Hermitage and London’s National Gallery.

Jacob van Ruisdael’s work had a profound influence on the next generation of landscape painters, notably his most celebrated pupil, Meindert Hobbema. Hobbema’s paintings, however, are lighter in tone and mood, more vibrant in colour, and more expansive in composition.

Hobbema is perhaps best known today for his large-scale wooded landscapes, often featuring watermills and sandy roads leading to villages or hamlets beyond. Animated figures can often be seen engaging with the world around them.

Born in Amsterdam in 1636, Adriaen van de Velde is recognised today as the most talented of the Van de Velde dynasty. The son of the marine painter Willem van de Velde the Elder (c. 1611-1693) and younger brother to Willem van de Velde the Younger (1633-1707), Adriaen started painting early and has been described by his biographer, Arnold Houbraken, as a child prodigy.

Seeking to establish his own path, he apprenticed with the landscape painter Jan Wijnants (c. 1635-1684). Van de Velde specialised in landscapes featuring animals and figures and, like his predecessors, would often sketch from life.