plate no. 1566

River Landscape with Ferry

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what to study here

It shows how a compressed mid-tone range, soft receding edges and a few dark verticals can build deep atmospheric space in a river landscape.

Start with the value structure, because it carries the picture. Squint and the painting breaks into three zones: a bright sky, a compressed band of mid-tones in the foliage and distant buildings, and the darkest accents in the central tree trunks and their water shadows. The trunks are nearly black, yet the vision guide notes warm and cool tones placed side by side in them, so they stay crisp without going mechanical. Notice the contrast of directions: the grove makes a vertical thrust against the horizontal river, and the water is handled with horizontal strokes that carry soft reflections. Light comes from the left and lights the cream clouds and distant buildings, while the sky takes roughly the upper third. Look at the edges. Clouds are soft and blended except where they catch direct light, foliage is loose and directional, and edges soften as they recede. Figures, animals and the ferry stay small against the landscape. Copy the value relationships and edge control before you worry about detail.

key decision

The painter kept the foliage and distant buildings in a narrow mid-tone band and reserved near-black for the central trunks and their water shadows. This sets up the recession, with edges softening as they recede.

From the record

Dimensions: 99.5 cm high × 133.5 cm wide
Institution: Instituut Collectie Nederland, Rijksmuseum, Stichting Nederlands Kunstbezit, Collection Goudstikker heirs, Jacques Goudstikker collection, Munich Central Collecting Point, Hermann Göring Collection
Location: Munich Central Collecting Point
Inception: 1649
Materials: oil paint, canvas

ferry
river

Wikipedia article Wikidata item Q20177276

from the sources

The painting is an oil on canvas work from 1649 by Salomon van Ruysdael. en.wikipedia.org
“River Landscape with Ferry (1649) is an oil on canvas painting by the Dutch landscape painter Salomon van Ruysdael.”
The painting is now held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. en.wikipedia.org
“It is an example of Dutch Golden Age painting and is now in the collection of the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C..”
The painting was owned by Jacques Goudstikker and was restituted to his heirs in 2006. en.wikipedia.org
“This painting was owned by Jacques Goudstikker and was restituted to his heirs in 2006.”
After the war the painting was returned to the Netherlands. en.wikipedia.org
“The painting was restituted to the Netherlands after the war (RCE).”
The RCE lent the painting to various museums on long-term loan before it was given to the Rijksmuseum in 1960. en.wikipedia.org
“It was lent by the RCE to various museums on long-term loans before being given to the Rijksmuseum in 1960, where it had featured in its Gallery of Honor for years.”
The painting has been part of the National Gallery of Art collection since 2007, following its restitution to the Goudstikker heirs in 2006. en.wikipedia.org
“In 2006 it was finally restituted to the Goudstikker heirs and since 2007 it has been part of the collection of the National Gallery of Art.”
The painting was included in a 2008 exhibition of paintings from the Jacques Goudstikker collection. en.wikipedia.org
“It was part of an exhibition Reclaimed: paintings from the collection of Jacques Goudstikker in 2008.”
The scene resembles other river landscapes the artist painted in the same period, which often inspired later landscape painters. en.wikipedia.org
“This scene is similar to other river landscape paintings Ruisdael made in this period and these often served as inspiration for later painters of landscape.”

recreation guide

River Landscape with Ferry (1649) is an oil on canvas painting by Salomon van Ruysdael, a prominent figure of the Dutch Golden Age. The work is characterized by its depiction of a river scene, consistent with the artist’s broader output of river landscapes from this period, which often served as inspiration for later landscape painters (Source 1). As a product of the Dutch Golden Age, the painting reflects a time of significant wealth and physical alteration of the Dutch landscape, where artists like Ruysdael depicted nature alongside emergent technology and civic identity (Source 6). The painting is executed in oil, a medium that allows for the layering and textural depth characteristic of Baroque landscape traditions.

estimated time

40-60 hours over 8-12 sessions

materials

6 items

steps

5 in sequence

materials

item	purpose	modern equivalent
Oil paints	Primary medium for the painting	Artist-grade oil paints
Linseed oil	Medium to thin paint and ensure proper drying layers	Refined linseed oil
Mineral spirits or turpentine	Solvent for thinning paint and cleaning brushes	Odorless mineral spirits or turpentine
Canvas	Support surface	Linen or cotton canvas primed with gesso
Charcoal or thinned paint	For initial sketching of the composition	Vine charcoal or diluted oil paint
Palette knives and rags	For applying, scraping, and adjusting paint texture	Standard palette knives and lint-free cloths

preparation

surface prep

The canvas should be prepared with a ground suitable for oil painting. While specific priming methods for this exact 1649 work are not detailed in the sources, traditional oil painting techniques of the period involved preparing the support to accept oil layers. The artist likely used a standard ground that allowed for the 'fat over lean' application rule, ensuring the paint film remains stable (Source 7).

underdrawing

Traditional oil painting techniques often begin with the artist sketching the subject onto the canvas with charcoal or thinned paint (Source 7). For this landscape, the artist would likely have sketched the broad masses of the river, ferry, and surrounding terrain to establish the composition before applying paint.

underpainting

The sources do not specify a distinct underpainting technique for this specific work. However, general practice involves establishing tonal values early. The artist may have used thinned paint to block in the major forms of the river and sky, adhering to the principle of building up layers from lean to fat (Source 7).

color palette

Earth tones (browns, greens)

Umber, ochre, green earth

General use in this artist's palette for landscapes and river scenes

Blues and Whites

Lead white, azurite or lapis lazuli (historically), modern equivalents

Sky and water reflections; note that Ruysdael’s later sea-pieces used a restricted palette of black, white, blue, and brown earth colors, suggesting a similar restrained approach for water and sky (Source 2)

Greys and Blacks

Bone black, ivory black, mixed with white

Shadows, distant forms, and structural elements like the ferry

composition

The painting depicts a river landscape with a ferry, a scene similar to other river landscape paintings Ruysdael made in this period (Source 1). The composition likely emphasizes the wide view of the river and sky, consistent with the definition of landscape painting where the main subject is a wide view with elements arranged into a coherent composition (Source 4). Ruysdael’s compositional skills are evident in his ability to arrange natural elements into a unified whole, though specific details of the ferry’s placement are not described in the sources.

step by step

underdrawing→underpainting→first pass→refining→finishing

underdrawing

step 01
Sketch the basic composition of the river, ferry, and surrounding landscape using charcoal or thinned paint.
Tip — Focus on the broad masses and the horizon line to establish the wide view characteristic of landscape painting.
Initial sketching

underpainting

step 02
Apply a thin layer of paint to block in the major tonal areas, such as the sky, water, and land.
Tip — Use lean paint (more solvent, less oil) to ensure the layer dries quickly and adheres well.
Blocking in

first pass

step 03
Build up the forms of the river and ferry, paying attention to the reflection of light on the water.
Tip — Adhere to the 'fat over lean' rule, ensuring each subsequent layer contains more oil than the previous one to prevent cracking.
Layering

refining

step 04
Refine the details of the ferry and the surrounding landscape, adjusting colors and textures.
Tip — Use palette knives or rags to adjust the texture and sheen of the paint, particularly for the water and sky.
Glazing and scumbling

finishing

step 05
Add final highlights and shadows to enhance the depth and realism of the scene.
Tip — Ensure that the colors are mixed correctly to avoid hue shifts when darkening or lightening.
Final detailing

critical techniques

Fat over lean

Each additional layer of paint should contain more oil than the layer below to allow proper drying and prevent cracking.

Layering

Building up the painting in layers allows for adjustments in color, texture, and form, leveraging the slow drying time of oil paint.

Color mixing

When darkening colors, use complementary colors rather than black to avoid hue shifts, especially for earth tones and greens.

common pitfalls

→Applying lean paint over fat paint, which can lead to cracking and peeling of the final painting (Source 7).
→Adding black to darken colors, which can cause unwanted hue shifts, particularly in yellows, oranges, and reds (Source 8).
→Over-modeling or being too tied down to the initial outline, which can result in a stiff and unnatural appearance (Source 3).
→Ignoring the 'fat over lean' rule, compromising the structural integrity of the paint film (Source 7).

what the sources don't tell us

Where the corpus is silent, we say so rather than guess. These are the gaps a complete recreation guide would normally cover that our source passages don't.

·Specific details of the ferry’s design and placement in the composition are not described in the sources.
·The exact pigments used by Salomon van Ruysdael for this 1649 painting are not specified.
·The specific underpainting technique (e.g., grisaille, verdaccio) used for this work is not documented in the provided sources.
·The precise dimensions of the canvas are not provided, which would affect the scale of the brushwork.

grounded in

The technical procedure in this guide traces to the following classical art-instruction texts.

The Practice of Oil Painting↗
- ON COPYING — applied to Advice on copying and avoiding over-modeling

cross-referenced from

Named facts about this artwork and artist were checked against these reference pages.

Wikipedia: River Landscape with Ferry↗
- River Landscape with Ferry — part 1 — applied to Overview and context of the painting
Wikipedia bio — Salomon van Ruysdael↗
- Salomon van Ruysdael — part 5 — applied to Artist’s style and palette references
- Salomon van Ruysdael — part 11 — applied to Context of the Dutch Golden Age
Wikipedia: Landscape painting↗
- Landscape painting — part 1 — applied to Definition and composition of landscape art
Wikipedia: Oil painting↗
- Oil painting — part 2 — applied to Techniques for oil painting, including 'fat over lean' and layering
Wikipedia: Color theory↗
- Color theory — part 6 — applied to Color mixing principles and avoiding hue shifts

Read more about the corpus on the sources page and how the guides are built on the methods page.

read from the painting

observed from the image, not the label

6 dominant colors, measured

what the eye sees

Light falls from the left, illuminating the cream-colored clouds and distant buildings while casting the central tree trunks into shadow. The composition is anchored by a grove of tall trees running down the center-left, their vertical thrust contrasting sharply with the horizontal river in the foreground. The eye lands first on the dark trees, then follows the water rightward toward the sailboat and distant buildings. Figures and animals dot the sandy bank and a flat-bottomed ferry, but remain small incidents against the landscape. The sky, filled with weighted cumulus clouds catching golden light, occupies roughly the upper third with strong visual weight.

value structure

The darkest values are the tree trunks and their water shadows (nearly black). The sky ranges from pale cream in cloud tops to a muted blue in open areas. Mid-tones dominate the foliage and distant buildings—these sit in a compressed value band that creates atmospheric recession. A distinct light-dark separation occurs between the illuminated sky and the darker foreground landscape. Squint and you see three clear zones: bright sky, medium-value middle ground (trees and buildings), and darker shadow accents (water and tree trunks).

observed palette and mixes

#d3c49d
lead white + raw sienna + touch of ochre
Cloud highlights, distant building walls, sunlit portions of sandy bank
#8e9eb0
ultramarine + touch of white + raw umber
Open sky areas, cool shadows within foliage, water reflections
#a5a294
raw sienna + ultramarine + white
Mid-tone foliage, sandy foreground, weathered building tones
#3e3724
ultramarine + burnt sienna + touch of black
Tree trunks, deepest shadows in water and under foliage
#b2ad9c
raw sienna + white + touch of ultramarine
Lighter foliage areas, shadow sides of clouds, middle-ground middle tones
#7e8077
raw umber + ultramarine + white
Foliage shadows, atmospheric haze softening distant structures, water's shadowed plane

edges and brushwork

Clouds are soft and blended throughout—no hard edges except where they catch direct light. Tree foliage is rendered with loose, directional strokes that suggest mass without describing individual leaves; the brushwork follows the fall of light and shadow. Tree trunks are relatively crisp but not mechanical, with warm and cool tones placed side by side. Water is handled with horizontal strokes that echo the river's plane and carry soft reflections. Overall, the painting reads as luminous and atmospheric rather than sharply rendered; edges soften as they recede.

a working sequence

01
Establish the sky and clouds
Block in the pale blue sky (ultramarine + white, cool side) across the upper two-thirds. Immediately add the cream-colored cloud masses using lead white + ochre, placing them off-center toward the right and lower left. Leave the brightest whites for cloud tops. Use soft brushwork—blend edges while paint is wet. The clouds should feel substantial and lit from the left-upper side.
02
Block in distant buildings and banks
Loosely paint the distant structures on both sides—tan and gray building silhouettes hazed by atmospheric distance. Keep these values muted (mix ultramarine into earth tones to dull them). Establish the sandy foreground bank in warm mid-tones, leaving cooler shadow areas where trees will cast shade into the water.
03
Place the central tree masses
Using a dark mix (ultramarine + burnt sienna, tilted warm), paint the silhouette of the tall central trees and the grove running down the left. Don't worry about individual trunks yet—think of them as a unified dark shape. These will anchor the composition and frame the distant view.
04
Block in the river and its reflections
Paint the water surface with horizontal strokes using muted blue-gray (ultramarine + white + touch of raw umber). Mirror the sky and tree silhouettes loosely below—cooler tones in shadow areas, warmer tones where light falls. Keep reflections soft and broken; don't mirror precisely.
05
Develop tree trunks and foliage
Using a round brush, paint individual tree trunks with a warm-to-cool mix (burnt sienna on the lit left side, ultramarine on shadow right side). Build up foliage around them with gestural strokes—don't fill in flat. Layer warmer mid-tones (raw sienna + white) over cooler shadow areas (ultramarine + raw umber). Let brushstrokes follow the direction of light and tree form.
06
Add figures, animals, and boats
Small figures standing on the bank and in the ferry—use ochre, alizarin, and ultramarine in small notes. The woman in red (lower left) and figures in the boat (center-right) should read as quick accents, not finely detailed. Add the sailboat on the right with white canvas catching light and a small flag. Animals (horses) should be simple warm shapes.
07
Refine reflections and shadow depth
Deepen the darkest tree shadows in the water using ultramarine + burnt sienna. Add subtle warm and cool vibrations in the water plane—small horizontal strokes of lighter sand color reflecting from the bank, darker areas where water is deep. Ensure the water feels convincing but remains loose.
08
Final atmospheric and edge refinement
Soften the sky-to-foliage transition with dry-brush blending where distant trees meet the horizon. Reinforce the brightest cloud highlights and sky. Step back to check that distant buildings feel pushed back by atmospheric haze; they should never be as crisp as the foreground trees. Add any final dark accents to deepen shadow areas and complete the spatial recession.

where studies of this painting go wrong

Making the central tree trunks too heavy or uniformly dark—they need luminosity and subtle color variation (warm light side, cool shadow side) to feel alive in the composition.
Overworking the sky—students often make it too smooth or too uniform in value. Clouds need soft edges and gentle transitions; let the paint do the blending rather than over-brushing.
Forcing detail into the distant buildings and foliage. At this distance, muted tones and soft edges create the illusion of atmosphere far better than crisp rendering.
Painting the water too dark or too still. The reflections should feel broken and directional, with enough light in the water plane to maintain the river's presence without competing with the trees.

measured difficulty