Landscape at Sunset

Aert van der Neer

1650s · Oil on canvas · European Paintings

A keen eye for effects of light distinguishes the landscape paintings of Aert van der Neer. Here, the artist turned his attention to the sun setting over a river, with brilliantly illuminated pink and yellow clouds casting their reflections onto the water below. In the foreground, wayfarers of various social classes move along a serpentine road that draws the eye back toward a village in the distance. In its coloration and anecdotal detail, the painting reveals Van der Neer’s awareness of landscapes by such Flemish contemporaries as Jan Brueghel the Elder and Peter Paul Rubens.

Artist

Aert van der Neer

Date

1650s

Medium

Oil on canvas

Department

European Paintings

Credit line

Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917