Description
A number of scholars have questioned the attribution because Griffier did not generally paint on copper and primarily painted hunting scenes. It may be based on a print, although the source has yet to be identified.
Provenance
Estate of Muriel Butkin (2008 ); AL Bottin.; The Norton Galleries (New York, New York), sold to Noah L. Butkin, 1967.; Noah L. Butkin (Shaker Heights, Ohio), by inheritance to his wife, Muriel Butkin, 1980.; Muriel Butkin (Shaker Heights, Ohio), upon her death, held in trust by the estate, 2008.; Estate of Muriel Butkin; The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (2008-)
Accession Number
2008.287
Medium
oil on copper, mounted on wood
Dimensions
Framed: 32 x 41 x 4 cm (12 5/8 x 16 1/8 x 1 9/16 in.); Unframed: 19.6 x 29 cm (7 11/16 x 11 7/16 in.)
Classification
Painting
Credit Line
Bequest of Muriel Butkin
Tags
Painting Baroque (1600–1750) Oil Painting Copper Dutch
Background & Context
Background Story
Jan Griffier (c. 1656-1718) was a Dutch painter known for the precisely observed, atmospherically composed landscape paintings that make him one of the accomplished painters of the Dutch landscape tradition. Winter Landscape from c. 1680-1718 depicts a winter landscape in the precisely observed, atmospherically composed manner that distinguishes Griffier's best work. Winter landscapes were one of the most important subjects in Dutch painting, representing the specifically Dutch experience of winter with its frozen canals, skating figures, and atmospheric effects, and Griffier's atmospherically composed treatment shows the Dutch winter landscape tradition at its most accomplished.
Cultural Impact
Winter Landscape is important in the history of Dutch painting because it demonstrates the precisely observed, atmospherically composed manner that Griffier brought to winter landscape painting as one of the accomplished painters of the Dutch landscape tradition. Winter landscapes—representing the specifically Dutch experience of winter with its frozen canals and skating figures—were one of the most important subjects in Dutch painting, and the c. 1680-1718 painting shows this tradition at its most atmospherically composed.
Why It Matters
Winter Landscape is Griffier's atmospherically composed Dutch winter scene: a winter landscape rendered in the precisely observed manner of one of the accomplished painters of the Dutch landscape tradition. The c. 1680-1718 painting shows the specifically Dutch experience of winter at its most atmospherically composed.
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