Summer

Summer from 1650 by Jan van Goyen captures the warm season along the Dutch waterways, part of the seasonal landscape tradition that Dutch painters developed throughout the seventeenth century as a systematic exploration of the Dutch landscape in all its seasonal manifestations. The summer subject allowed Van Goyen to employ slightly warmer tones within his typically restrained palette, suggesting the gentle warmth of a Dutch summer day without abandoning the atmospheric unity that characterized his mature approach. Van Goyen developed his distinctive tonal monochrome palette in the 1630s, restricting himself to earthy browns, warm greys, and soft greens that gave his landscapes a unified atmospheric quality. His enormous output — over a thousand dated works — reflects the strong commercial demand for his atmospheric river and seasonal scenes in the Amsterdam and Hague art markets. The Gemäldegalerie Berlin holds this seasonal landscape as part of its Van Goyen holdings, providing evidence of the range within his apparently restricted stylistic approach.

The warmer atmospheric tones distinguish this summer scene, with van Goyen's fluid brushwork capturing the hazy quality of warm, humid air above the water surface.