Wooded Dune Landscape near Haarlem, with Windmill and a Pair of Figures
late 18th–mid-19th century
Medium
Black chalk and gray wash
Dimensions
sheet: 9 15/16 x 15 1/16 in. (25.2 x 38.2 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Guy Wildenstein Gift, 2004
Accession Number
2004.305
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the tranquil *Wooded Dune Landscape nearlem, with Windmill a Pair of Figures*, artist Gerrit Jan Michais captures the essence of his homeland's rugged coastal beauty during the late 18th mid-19th century Rendered on a modest sheet measuring nearly 10 by 15 inches, the drawing depicts rolling dunes framed by dense woods, a iconic windmill standing sentinel, and two distant figuresoking everyday life in the Dutch countryside. Haarlem's dunes, a recurring motif in Dutch art since the Golden Age, symbolize the nation's intimate bond with its shifting sands and waterways. Michaëlis employs blac...