Panoramic Heath Landscape with Sheep in Foreground

As their predecessors had two hundred years before, 19th-century Dutch painters explored the seasons' effect on the land. Here, a summer sunset glows above the subtle colors of a heath landscape. In the foreground, following the path of a dunelike depression, a shepherd brings his flock toward home. The artist was prized for his skill in depicting summer landscapes, many of them panoramic canvases.

Hoppenbrouwers studied at the Hague art academy. Like his later master Andreas Schelfhout, he concentrated on the overall effect of his paintings rather than precise records of specific views. A sometime collaborator with the figure painter Charles Rochussen, he enjoyed great popularity.