Accession Number
1929.541
Medium
black chalk and brush and gray wash over traces of graphite; framing lines in brown ink
Dimensions
Sheet: 14.8 x 19.6 cm (5 13/16 x 7 11/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Credit Line
Dudley P. Allen Fund
Tags
Drawing Baroque (1600–1750) Ink Graphite & Pencil Dutch Color: White
Background & Context
Background Story
Pieter Molyn (1595-1661) was a Dutch Golden Age painter known for his tonal landscapes of the Dutch countryside, earlier covered. August: Landscape with Wagons from c. 1655 depicts a Dutch landscape with wagons in the tonal manner that Molyn helped develop in the 1620s and 1630s. The c. 1655 date places this in Molyn's later period, when he was continuing to produce the tonal landscapes that are his most accomplished works, and the month subject indicates that this may be part of a series of months.
Cultural Impact
August: Landscape with Wagons is important in the history of Dutch landscape painting because it demonstrates the tonal manner that Molyn helped develop as the first distinctive Dutch landscape style. The month subject—landscape with wagons for August—suggests that this may be part of a series of months, a common subject in Dutch landscape painting that allowed painters to depict the Dutch countryside in different seasons and weather conditions.
Why It Matters
August: Landscape with Wagons is Molyn's tonal Dutch landscape: wagons in a Dutch countryside rendered in the restrained palette and atmospheric perspective that he helped develop as the first distinctive Dutch landscape style. The c. 1655 painting shows the tonal manner applied to the month subject series.
