Artwork
Landscape with signal post
Landscape with signal post is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Philips Wouwerman. It dates from 1650 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
About this work
Technique & Style
5 cm in width, situate it as an intimate cabinet-scale landscape rather than a large-format composition.
The work is executed in oil paint and classified as a painting. According to the cataloguing record, the materials include oil paint on panel and canvas, indicating that the work is an oil painting on a panel or canvas support. The small dimensions, 22.5 cm in height by 28.5 cm in width, situate it as an intimate cabinet-scale landscape rather than a large-format composition.
Stylistically, the piece belongs to the genre of landscape painting and was produced in Haarlem in 1650, aligning with Philips Wouwerman's mature period of landscape production in that city. The handling is consistent with Dutch seventeenth-century landscape practice, though the available records do not specify brushwork, palette, or condition details.
History & Provenance
The painting entered the Rijksmuseum collection from the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, where it had been held as part of the national art collection.
Its creation date is recorded as 1650, consistent with Wouwerman’s mature period. The work was produced in Haarlem, aligning with the artist’s documented activity in that city during the mid-seventeenth century.
Overview
Created circa 1650 by the Dutch painter Philips Wouwerman, this oil on canvas belongs to the landscape tradition of the Dutch Golden Age. The composition centers on a solitary tree beside a modest signal post, set within a gently undulating countryside under a cloud‑filled sky. The work is part of the Rijksmuseum’s collection.
Subject & Meaning
The scene presents a quiet rural road flanked by a few figures: a rider on horseback in the distance and a pedestrian walking along the path in the foreground. The central tree and the modest post serve as visual anchors, emphasizing the calm, everyday life of the Dutch countryside.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Philips Wouwerman (also Wouwermans) (24 May 1619 (baptized) – 19 May 1668) was a Dutch painter of hunting, landscape and battle scenes. He became prolific during the Dutch Golden Age and joined the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke.
