Village on a River (1620–25): Art, History and Details

Village on a River (1620–25) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Jan Jansz den Uyl (Dutch, 1595/96–1639/40).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

This small sheet by Jan Jansz. den Uyl shows the Amsterdam artist recording a scene that he probably encountered during a walk outside the city. Once back in his studio, he embellished the view with watercolors in blue, green, gray, and ochre. In the 1620s, when this was made, sketching landscape scenes on-site was still relatively new in the Netherlands. The drawing does not relate to any known work by Den Uyl, who was a noted still life painter, and he probably made it for his own pleasure.

Object facts

• Title: Village on a River
• Date: 1620–25
• Creator attribution: Jan Jansz den Uyl (Dutch, 1595/96–1639/40)
• Culture: Netherlands
• Type: Drawing
• Technique: black chalk, with transparent and opaque watercolor in blue, green-blue, gray, and ochre, framing line in brown ink on antique laid paper; framing line in brown ink
• Dimensions: Sheet: 14.9 x 21 cm (5 7/8 x 8 1/4 in.); Matted: 16.8 x 21.9 x 0.5 cm (6 5/8 x 8 5/8 x 3/16 in.); Image: 10.5 x 16.5 cm (4 1/8 x 6 1/2 in.)
• Collection: DR - Dutch
• Department: Drawings
• Accession number: 2019.14

A detail from the museum

In the 1620s, when this small drawing was made, sketching landscape scenes en plein air (on-site) was still relatively new in the Netherlands.

Collection credit

John L. Severance Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• RKD # 9292

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.