Jacob van RUISDAEL Haarlem, 1628 - Amsterdam, 1682 A Traveller Stops with his Dog by the River Oil on oak panel, one plate Two red wax stamps and an old label numbered '12915' on verso Halt of a traveler, oil on oak panel, by J. van Ruisdael 24.50 x 33.50 cm (9.65 x 13.19 in.) Provenance: Collection of William Courtenay, 9th Earl of Devon (circa 1768-1835) ; His sale, London, Christie's, 26-27 April 1816, no. 43 ; George Watson Taylor Collection; His sale, London, Christie's, 13-14 June 1823, n° 43 ; Alexander Baring Collection, 1st Baron Ashburton (1774-1848) in 1835; Then by descent to Francis Baring, 5th Baron Ashburton (1866-1938); Sold by the latter with other pieces to Thomas Agnew and Sons, London, in 1907; Charles Sedelmeyer, Paris; Collection S. de Jonge, Paris, circa 1911; Collection H. G. T. Crone, Vogelenzang, 2001; Anonymous sale; London, Christie's, 6 December 2018, no. 19 ; Private collection, Paris Exhibitions: 'Winter Exhibition of works by the Old Masters, and by deceased Masters of the British School', London, Royal Academy, 1890, no. 110, label on reverse Exposition des Grands et Petits Maîtres hollandais du XVIIe siècle', Paris, Salle du Jeu de Paume, 28 April-10 July 1911, no. 135 Bibliography: John Smith, 'A Catalogue Raisonné of the works of the most eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French painters', London, 1835, VI, p. 59, no. 188 Gustav Friedrich Waagen, 'Kunstwerke und Künstler in England', Berlin, 1838, II, p. 96 Gustav Friedrich Waagen, 'Treasures of Art in Great Britain', London, 1854, II, p. 110 Wilhelm Martin, "Ausstellung altholländischer Bilder in Pariser Privatbesitz", 'Monatshefte für Kunstwissenschaft', IV, 1911, p. 506, no. 135, pl. 110 Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, 'A Catalogue Raisonné of the works of the most eminent Dutch painters of the Seventeenth Century', London, 1912, IV, p. 232, no. 735 Jakob Rosenberg, 'Jacob van Ruisdael', Berlin, 1928, p. 94, no. 364 Seymour Slive, 'A Complete Catalogue of His Paintings, Drawings and Etchings', New Haven and London, 2001, p. 328, no. 440 Comment: This painting was one of a group of four small landscapes of similar dimensions that passed from the collection of G. Watson Taylor to that of Alexander Baring, first Baron Ashburton, in 18231. The series was the subject of engravings attributed by Smith to the Londoner William Austin (1721-1820). These plates, part of a set of 18 prints, now appear to have been given to the engraver Thomas F. Hodgkins. Seymour Slive dates this set to the 1650s, which corresponds to the early career of the painter Jacob van Ruisdael, who produced his first paintings in 1646 and joined the Haarlem painters' guild in 1648. Although modest in format, this work already bears the seeds of the major pictorial research developed by the painter throughout his life on atmospheric effects and the meticulous study of nature. The cloud-laden sky betrays the heavy rain that has just fallen on the Dutch countryside, which explains the flooding of the river. Here, as in many of Ruisdael's other works, the relationship between man and nature is explored through the figure sitting by the river accompanied by his dog. There is a great poetic quality to this landscape, which celebrates nature in the face of a humanity reduced to a few small figures. 1 See Seymour Slive, 'A Complete Catalogue of His Paintings, Drawings and Etchings', New Haven and London, 2001, p. 119, no. 92 (fig. 92a), p. 369, no. 504, p. 436, no. 622.