Where can I see River Scene with Windmill and Boats, Evening?

River Scene with Windmill and Boats, Evening is held by National Gallery of Art.

What movement is River Scene with Windmill and Boats, Evening?

River Scene with Windmill and Boats, Evening is associated with Baroque.

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Museum-quality prints of River Scene with Windmill and Boats, Evening are available made-to-order from Artifact World Gallery.

Artwork

River Scene with Windmill and Boats, Evening

Anthonie van Borssom , 1645

River Scene with Windmill and Boats, Evening is an oil painting by the Baroque artist Anthonie van Borssom. It dates from 1645 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.

Inscription: Inscribed:lower left in monogram

About this work

Technique & Style

67 centimeters, a modest format suited to the intimate river landscape tradition of the Dutch Golden Age.

River Scene with Windmill and Boats, Evening is executed in oil on panel, a support consistent with the small-scale cabinet pictures produced by Anthonie van Borssom. The panel measures 18.42 by 26.67 centimeters, a modest format suited to the intimate river landscape tradition of the Dutch Golden Age. The painting is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where it entered in 2012 as part of the Robert H. and Clarice Smith gift.

The work is classified as a painting and dated to 1645. Beyond these confirmed technical particulars, oil medium, wooden panel support, and modest dimensions, the available documentation does not provide further detail on handling, surface condition, or specific stylistic characteristics.

History & Provenance

River Scene with Windmill and Boats, Evening was painted by Anthonie van Borssom in 1645, executed in oil on panel. The earliest documented owner in the recorded chain is a private collection in Lugano, where the work was held by around 1955. It subsequently passed through an anonymous Austrian dealer to the David M. Koetser Gallery in Zurich.

In April 1998, Robert H. Smith (1928–2009) and Clarice Smith of Arlington, Virginia, purchased the painting from the gallery, a transaction documented in correspondence from David Koetser dated 20 March 1998.

Following Robert Smith's death, the work passed by inheritance to Clarice Smith. In 2012, she donated it to the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., where it remains in the collection. The painting's history is catalogued in Wolfgang Schulz's 2002 monograph on Aert van der Neer, which records it as catalogue number 1239.

The painting is held by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., where it entered the collection in 2012 as a gift from Clarice Smith. The work is recorded under accession number 2012.13.1.

Its exhibition history includes no recorded public displays prior to its acquisition by the National Gallery of Art.

Context

River Scene with Windmill and Boats, Evening (1645) by Anthonie van Borssom exemplifies Dutch Golden Age landscape painting through its delicate atmospheric rendering of windmills, boats, and river activity. The work entered a private collection in Lugano before passing through Austrian dealers to the David M. Koetser Gallery in Zurich, from which Robert H. and Clarice Smith acquired it in 1998; Smith subsequently gifted the painting to the National Gallery of Art in 2012. [1] Scholarly attention to van Borssom's oeuvre, including this piece, is documented in studies of Dutch marine and river scenes, situating his contribution within the broader context of 17th-century Dutch landscape innovation. []

The painting is held in the National Gallery of Art's collection in Washington, D.C., where it remains accessible to the public.

Overview

An oil painting on panel titled River Scene with Windmill and Boats, Evening was executed by Anthonie van Borssom around 1645. The work captures a tranquil riverbank at twilight, featuring a windmill, modest dwellings, and three vessels navigating the water under a brooding sky.

Subject & Meaning

The composition presents a quiet waterway framed by a stationary windmill on the left bank, its sails at rest. A larger sailing boat occupies the centre of the river, flanked by two smaller rowboats. Behind the mill, low houses emerge, while reeds line the opposite shore, suggesting a modest, rural Dutch setting at day's end.