Panorama Landscape with a View of Arnheim

The much-traveled artist was forever fascinated by the theme of a city on the banks of a river. He dedicated himself intensely in more than 20 versions to representing the silhouette of the Dutch city of Arnheim, embedded in a flat countryside that the viewer can grasp in its entirety. For the painting in Düsseldorf, which is one of his main works, van Goyen chose the view of the city from the northwest. A country road opens up the pictorial space, emphasized by the horse rider and three men deep in conversation. The powerful Western tower of the Grote Kerk and the twin towers of St. Walburgiskerk rise up above the low land in the centre. Behind them lies Hoch- Elten nr. Emmerich. Our gaze wanders through the pictorial space, following the broad expanse of the Rhine through to the bright horizon. Evening light lies like a mystical shroud over the countryside and gives the river a grayish blue hue. The sky’s clay-like feel was the main focus of van Goyen’s project, a painter forgotten until the end of the 19th century. The monochrome tonal values are also reminiscent of change and the world’s transience. (Bettina Baumgärtel)