Dunes

Jan van Goyen's Dunes (1630) is an early example of the Dutch tonal landscape style he helped pioneer — grey-brown, atmospheric views of the flat Dutch landscape stripped of the decorative color and Italianate figures that characterized the preceding generation. Van Goyen, Salomon van Ruysdael, and Pieter de Molijn developed this mode of monochromatic, atmospheric landscape in the late 1620s, transforming the Dutch countryside into the subject matter of serious art. The dunes of the Dutch coast, those great undulating sand formations that define the nation's edge, became one of van Goyen's most characteristic motifs.

Van Goyen's tonal style is built on a limited palette of warm browns, greys, and muted greens — color is suppressed in favor of atmospheric unity. Quick, spontaneous brushwork suggests vegetation and sky with economy. The low horizon characteristic of his format gives the sky approximately two-thirds of the composition, emphasizing the vast Dutch cloudscape.