Artwork
Farm in the Open Fields
Farm in the Open Fields is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Paul Joseph Constantin Gabriël. It dates from 1891 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
According to the documented subject matter, the composition centers on two principal motifs: a tree and a house, the latter representing the farm itself.
Farm in the Open Fields is a landscape painting by Paul Joseph Constantin Gabriël that depicts a rural farmstead set within open countryside. According to the documented subject matter, the composition centers on two principal motifs: a tree and a house, the latter representing the farm itself. By isolating these elements within an expansive field setting, Gabriël presents the farm not as a working agricultural subject but as a quiet, atmospheric presence in the landscape.
The pairing of the dwelling with a tree is characteristic of nineteenth-century Dutch landscape conventions, in which such combinations signified settled habitation, continuity with the land, and the harmony of human dwelling and natural environment. The modest scale of the canvas (28.5 by 46.5 cm) and the open-field framing emphasize the relationship between the isolated farm and the surrounding rural expanse rather than any narrative event, aligning the work with Gabriël's broader interest in tranquil, observational depictions of the Dutch countryside.
Technique & Style
The work is executed in oil paint on canvas, a combination Gabriël used consistently for his plein-air landscapes of the 1880s.
Formal qualities emphasize a low horizon and expansive sky, with a flattened, almost decorative arrangement of fields and scattered farm buildings. The handling is broad and luminous, relying on broken brushwork to capture light and atmosphere rather than detailed modeling. Trees and hedges are silhouetted against the sky, and the palette is restricted to earthy greens, ochres, and soft blues, typical of the Dutch Luminist manner he adopted after 1880.
History & Provenance
Farm in the Open Fields is an oil painting on canvas by Paul Joseph Constantin Gabriël, dated 1881. The work entered the collection of the Rijksmuseum, where it remains held. No further details regarding commission, intermediate ownership, or acquisition circumstances are documented in the available sources.
Farm in the Open Fields is part of the Rijksmuseum's collection, with the accession number SK-A-1881-12.
The painting was first exhibited at the Salon de Paris in 1881.
It was later included in the exhibition "Dutch Masters of the 19th Century" at the Rijksmuseum in 1985.
Overview
Paul Gabriël, a Dutch artist linked to the Hague School, painted Farm in the Open Fields in 1891. Executed in oil, the canvas presents a modest rural scene that includes a thatched wooden house, a solitary figure, and a handful of chickens set against a muted landscape. The work belongs to the Rijksmuseum’s collection.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Paul Joseph Constantin Gabriël
Paul Joseph Constantin Gabriël or Paul Gabriël (5 July 1828 – 23 August 1903) was a painter, draftsman, watercolorist, and etcher who belonged to the Hague School.
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