Landscape with the Ruins of the Castle of Egmond

CC0 Public Domain Designation

1650–55

Jacob van Ruisdael (Dutch, 1628/29-1682)

The deteriorating Castle of Egmond was a visible reminder of the Dutch struggle for independence: it was sacrificially destroyed during the revolt against Spain more than 80 years before Jacob van Ruisdael produced this painting. Landscape specialists like Van Ruisdael invoked Dutch patriotism by selecting sites representative of the republic, including ruins, windmills, and city views. Ruisdael distinguished himself by working on an unusually large scale and by imbuing his scenes with drama through low horizon lines and swollen clouds.

Status: On View, Gallery 213
Department: Painting and Sculpture of Europe

Artist: Jacob van Ruisdael
Title: Landscape with the Ruins of the Castle of Egmond
Place: Holland (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1650–1655
Medium: Oil on canvas
Inscriptions: Inscribed lower right in ligature: JVR
Dimensions: 98 × 130 cm (38 7/8 × 51 3/8 in.); Framed: 101 × 131.5 × 8.6 cm (39 3/4 × 51 3/4 × 3 3/8 in.)
Credit Line: Potter Palmer Collection
Reference Number: 1947.475
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/60755/manifest.json

Theodor Frimmel, Kleine Galeriestudien (Bamberg, 1891/92), p. 261.
Ruisdael: Masters in Art, vol. 8 (Boston, 1907): 83, listed only.
Wilhelm Bode. Die Sammlung Oscar Huldschinsky (Berlin, 1908) no. 26.
C. Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, vol. IV (London, 1912) pp. 22-3, no. 51.
Jakob Rosenberg, Jacob van Ruisdael (Berlin, 1928) pp. 20-1, 74, no. 34, pl. 18, fig. 31.
Paul Cassirer and Hugo Helbing, Die Sammlung Oscar Huldschinsky (Berlin, 1928) p. 52, no. 29, pl. 25.
“Die Sammlung Huldschinsky,” Pantheon 1 (1928) pp. 128, 130 (ill).
P. Wescher, “Berlin,” Pantheon 1 (1928), p. 327.
“Berlin. Collection Oscar Huldschinsky” La Revue d’Art 29 (July–December 1928), p. 95.
Bulletin of the Bachstitz Gallery (The Hague, 1929) pp. 36-7.
Axel L. Romdahl, “Barock, Kontrabarock och Akademism,” Tidskrift for Konstvetenskay 20 (1937) pp. 39-40, 44 (ill.).
J. G. N. Reynaud, “De iconographie van het slot te Egmond,” Maandblad voor beeldende Kunst 17 (1940), pp. 339–41.
Art Institute of Chicago, Paintings in the Art Institute of Chicago. A Catalogue of the Picture Collection (Chicago, 1961) pp. 408-9, ill. p. 193.
John Maxon, The Art Institute of Chicago (London and New York, 1970) pp. 260, 285 (ill.).
Yuri Kouznetsov, “Sur le symbolisme dans les paysages du Jacob van Ruisdael,” Bulletin du Musée National de Varsovie 14 (1973), p. 35.
The Art Institute of Chicago. 100 Masterpieces. Chicago, 1978, no. 23 (1983 reprint, pl. 23).
John D. Morse, Old Master Paintings in North America (New York, 1979), p. 250.
J. Ashbery, “Master of Land and Sky,” Newsweek (February 15, 1982), p. 7.
Peter Ashton, Alice I. Davies and Seymour Slive, “Jacob van Ruisdael’s Trees,” Arnoldia 42, no. 1 (1982), p. 19, pl. 19.
Robert Hughes, “Opening a Path to Natural Vision. A unique retrospective of Ruisdael at the Fogg,” Time (March 29, 1982) p. 60, ill.
Carter Ratcliff, “Ruisdael’s Northern Prospects,” Art in America 70, no. 4 (April 1982) p. 96 (ill.).
Peter C. Sutton, A Guide to Dutch Art in America (Grand Rapids, Michigan1986) pp. 49, 51, fig. 68.
George Keyes, review of Cambridge, Massachusetts, Fogg Art Museum, Landscape in Perspective: Drawings by Rembrandt and his Contemporaries, in Master Drawings 27 (1989), pp. 168–9.
Walter Liedtke, “The Collectors and Their Ideals,” in Ben Broos, Great Dutch Paintings from America, exh. cat. (The Hague, Mauritshuis, 1990), p. 35.
Seymour Silve, “Additions to Jacob van Ruisdael,” Burlington Magazine 133 (1991), p. 598, n. 2.
Seymour Slive, Jacob van Ruisdael: A Complete Catalogue of His Paintings, Drawings, and Etchings (New Haven, 2001) pp. 44-5, no. 29.

Berlin, Kaiser-Friedrich-Museums-Verein, Palais Redern, Ausstellung von Werken alter Kunst aus dem Privatbesitz der Mitglieder des Kaiser-Friedrich-Museums-Verein, 1906, no. 117, ill.
Rotterdam, J. Goudstikker, Collection Goudstikker 36, 22 December 1928 - 6 January 1929; Amsterdam, 12 January - 28 February 1929, no. 67.
London, Thomas Agnew and Sons, An Exhibition of the Von Auspitz Collection of Old Masters by courtesy of Herr Walter Bachstitz, (November-December 1932) p. 16, no. 27.
The Hague, Mauritshuis, Jacob van Ruisdael, 1 October 1981 - 3 January 1982; Cambridge, Mass., Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University, 18 January 1982 - 11 April 1982, no. 19, p. 64-66.
London, Philadelphia and Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Jacob van Ruidael, Master of Landscape, June 26–September 18, 2005; traveled to Philadelphia, Museum of Art, October 23, 2005–February 5, 2006; London, Royal Academy or Arts, February 25–June 4, 2006, no. 18.

Possibly Collection of Jean-André Tardieu; sold, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, May 10-11, 1867, lot 51 as Les Ruines du Château de Brederode for 3,650 francs. Baron Etienne Martin de Beurnonville (1789-1876), château de la Chapelle, Labbeville, Val d’Oise, France; sale of his estate, Paris, Hôtel Drouot, May 9, 1881, lot 451 as Ruins of the Castle of Brederode; sold to Charles Sedelmeyer (1837-1925), Paris, for 10,000 francs [annotated sale cat., Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, The Hague; copy in curatorial object file]. György Ráth (1828-1905), Budapest, by 1892 until before 1905 [this and the following according to Frimmel 1892]. P & D. Colnaghi, London, by 1906; sold to Oscar Huldschinsky (died 1931), Berlin, by Jan. 1906 [Berlin 1906]; offered for sale, Paul Cassirer, Berlin, May 10-11, 1928, lot 29, bought in at 61,000 marks [according to Rosenberg 1928 and La Revue d’Art 1928]. Galerie Goudstikker, Rotterdam and Amsterdam, by Dec. 1928 to at least Feb. 1929 [Rotterdam and Amsterdam 1928]. Bachstitz Gallery, The Hague, by 1932 [this and the following according to email correspondence with Agnews, July 2004, in curatorial object file]; consigned to Agnews, London, Oct. 1932 [not part of the Von Auspitz collection, but included in the 1932 catalogue, no. 27]; returned to the Bachstitz Gallery, The Hague, Mar. 1933 until at least 1935 [inventory nos. G95 and Ru1356 in the Bachstitz Gallery archive at the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, The Hague; Bulletin of the Bachstitz Gallery 1935]. Paul Cassirer, Ltd., London, 1947, as agent for an anonymous family, with Otto Reichenheim, Canfield Gardens, London, as intermediary; sold to the Art Institute, 1947.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

On View

Status

Department

Artist

Title

Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Medium

Inscriptions

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.

Explore Further

Suggested Terms

See all hours

Landscape with the Ruins of the Castle of Egmond

On View

Date:

Artist:

About this artwork

Status

Department

Artist

Title

Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

Medium

Inscriptions

Dimensions

Credit Line

Reference Number

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

Extended information about this artwork

Publication History

Exhibition History

Provenance

Share

Explore Further

Sign up for our enewsletter to receive updates.

Gallery actions

Image actions

Share

IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.