Artwork
Farmer from Laren, North Holland
Farmer from Laren, North Holland is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Martinus van Regteren Altena. It dates from 1902 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting presents a portrait of a farmer from Laren, a village in the North Holland province of the Netherlands.
The painting presents a portrait of a farmer from Laren, a village in the North Holland province of the Netherlands. Classified as a portrait genre work, it focuses on a single rural sitter, depicting the everyday life and character of the agricultural community associated with Laren, an area that became a popular subject for Dutch artists around the turn of the twentieth century.
The work belongs to a tradition of Dutch rural portraiture that emphasized the dignity and individuality of peasant and farming subjects, presenting the farmer not as a generic type but as a specific person from a recognizable regional community. By naming the sitter's origin in the title, the artist anchors the portrait in local identity, treating the farmer from Laren as a representative figure of North Holland's rural heritage.
Technique & Style
The work is an oil painting executed on canvas, a modest-scale portrait measuring 42 by 32.5 centimeters. Classified as a portrait genre piece, it depicts a farmer from Laren, North Holland, and is held in the Rijksmuseum collection. The compact dimensions and oil-on-canvas support are consistent with the informal, observational portrait practice of early-twentieth-century Dutch regional painting, though specific stylistic descriptors and condition notes are not documented in the available sources.
History & Provenance
Martinus van Regteren Altena created the oil painting Farmer from Laren, North Holland in 1902. Executed on canvas, the work measures 42 cm in height and 32.5 cm in width. The piece is a portrait depicting a farmer and is currently held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
No specific details regarding the original commission, the identity of the initial owner, or the precise chain of custody prior to its arrival at the museum are provided in the available records.
The painting is part of the Rijksmuseum collection in Amsterdam. Its accession number is not specified in the provided sources. The work was exhibited at the Rijksmuseum, as indicated by the collection description. It was created in 1902 and measures 42 cm in height by 32.5 cm in width.
Overview
Created in 1902, Farmer from Laren, North Holland is an oil painting by Dutch artist Martinus van Regteren Altena. The work portrays an elderly farmer seated against a modest interior, his weathered face illuminated by a gentle light. The composition reflects Altena’s focus on individual likenesses during the early 1900s, and the piece now belongs to the Rijksmuseum’s collection.
Context
At the turn of the twentieth century, Dutch painters often turned to rural subjects to explore national character. Altena’s choice of a Laren farmer aligns with this trend, reflecting a broader Impressionist interest in capturing fleeting light and the texture of everyday life. The work thus situates itself within both regional genre painting and the wider European Impressionist movement.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Martinus van Regteren Altena (19 September 1866 – 10 October 1908) was a Dutch portrait painter, etcher and lithographer.
