Cottages among Trees

A cluster of half-timbered cottages stands along a rustic, tree lined road. Three of the cottages are set on a hillock, buttressed by a stone wall. A lone figure ascends steps towards the cottages. Half-timbered houses became one of Ruisdael's most beloved motifs after he visited Bentheim, a small German town in Westphalia, just over the border between Holland and Germany. Judging from dated paintings, he traveled there in 1650, and was likely accompanied by his friend, the landscape painter Nicholas Berchem (1620 -1683). After this trip, half-timbered houses became part of his repertoire and he continued to use them until his last years. These houses, found in a small area in the western part of Westphalia, are characterized by their distinctive vertical plain gables as seen in the proposed drawing. Ruisdael has worked the sheet up in his characteristic manner of making a black chalk under drawing which he then went over in brush and black and gray ink and wash. Delicate, often tiny touches of the tip of the brush highlight the rich textures of the rustic cottages and foliage and create the impression of light and air suffusing the landscape. Ruisdael appears to have made this drawing as a study. It is not connected to a known painting.