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| Drawing the Eel |
Artist:Salomon van Ruysdael (Dutch, Naarden, born ca. 1600–1603, died 1670 Haarlem)
Date:early 1650s
Medium:Oil on wood
Dimensions:29 1/2 x 41 3/4 in. (74.9 x 106 cm)
Classification:Paintings
Credit Line:Purchase, 1871
This picture of a village entertainment on a crisp winter day is one of the finest of the 174 paintings acquired in the Museum’s founding 1871 Purchase. The eel or herring dangling from a line strung from tavern to tree is the slippery target of couples charging by on horseback. Since at least the time of Pieter Bruegel the Elder in the 1560s, country pleasures were a subject enjoyed by urban art collectors.
Catalogue Entry
One of the finest paintings acquired by the Museum in its founding purchase of 1871, this work illustrates a village entertainment on a clear winter day. So many details divert the eye that the sky might be overlooked, although it fills about three-quarters of the picture surface and includes, in its wonderfully well-preserved paint layer, lovely passages of blue streaked by fair-weather clouds and reflected sunlight.
The unfortunate creature (it could be something other than an eel) is strung on a rope that extends from one of the delicately silhouetted trees at left to the upper window of the inn. The establishment's sign shows a half-length portrait of a man with a sash, suggesting that the inn is called The Prince; a flag announces the festival. Social historians have yet to document the history of palingtrekken (eel pulling) and its variations, such as riding at the herring and pulling the cat. These amusements were depicted by Philips Wouwermans (1619–1668) and other artists at about the same time. Van Ruysdael himself painted the subject in 1633 or 1635 (art market, 2005), employing a composition that anticipates the general design of this work. The MMA picture's taller format and more colorful palette, however, are hallmarks of the 1650s and 1660s.
The signature and date are barely visible at the bottom center of the picture. In 1909, Valentiner recorded the date as 165[0], precisely as it is legible now. A date of about 1650 or the early 1650s is completely expected within the context of the artist's oeuvre.
[2011; adapted from Liedtke 2007]
Copyright Image
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