Jan Weissenbruch, View of a Dutch Town

by Atelier Liesjes

A narrow cobbled street runs between a wooden fence and a tall, dark wooden warehouse, leading to a whitewashed cottage with a red-tiled roof. On the left, two men are chatting by the fence, one of them wearing a red skirt; next to them, a woman is sitting on a bench. Further on, by the poplars, a woman is walking with a basket on her arm, wearing a brown jacket and a light shawl. A small white dog scurries alongside her. On the right, planks and a ladder lean against the warehouse’s façade; in the distance, rising above the red roofs, is the slender spire of a church tower, topped with a wrought-iron cross. The sky is pale blue with scattered white clouds drifting from left to right. The scene is composed like a stage: on the left, the tall trees form the backdrop; on the right, the dark warehouse; and in the centre, the open expanse with the tower. Weissenbruch keeps the light low and warm, so that the paving stones glow almost yellow whilst the shaded areas remain cool. The style is realistic, akin to nineteenth-century cityscapes and the work of the Hague School, with a precise yet fluid touch and a fine sense of the texture of wood, brick and fabric. The wood of the fence is rendered with short, vertical strokes; the cobblestones in the foreground with small, pointed brushstrokes; and the leaves of the poplars with curling strokes.
Jan Weissenbruch (The Hague 1822 – The Hague 1880) was one of the most highly regarded cityscape painters of his generation and a renowned etcher and watercolourist. He was a cousin of Jan Hendrik Weissenbruch and spent many years travelling throughout the Netherlands sketching streets, squares and harbours. His work is held in Dutch museums. A tranquil, sunny cityscape for a classic interior.