Peasant's Cottage (recto); Bridge and Gate (verso)

Abraham Bloemaert, active in Utrecht, was a painter, prolific draftsman, print designer, and important teacher. Bloemaert was an important precursor of the new wave of realism in Dutch art in the 1620s. Artist and author Karel van Mander (1548-1606) wrote the following description of Bloemaert=s drawings in 1604 which seems to correspond very closely to this work: With art lovers there are also by him very attractive landscapes with some attractive and funny farmhouses, farm tools, trees, and backgrounds, things to be seen around Utrecht in great numbers and variety, for he does very much from life, having a very attractive way of drawing and handling with the pen, to which he then adds some succulent touches of colors for a special seemliness.