View of the Town of Elten

Painted at the end of his life, this view of Eltenfollows a trip Jan van Goyen made to the banks of the Dutch Rhine in 1650 and 1651.
This work is quite significant of the many pictorial changes operated throughout his career. The impression of depth is suggested by the superimposition of horizontal bands of different sizes. The horizon is placed low on the canvas, the foreground in shadow gives the idea of depth while the sky, which occupies almost the entire composition, gives the painting all its atmosphere that can be joyful, threatening or majestic.
Jan van Goyen reused this decoration a year later for a larger-format work kept at the Mauritshuis The Hague.
From the texts by Sandrine Le Bideau in the catalog Flemish and Dutch paintings—Collection of the Châteauroux museums (Peintures Flamande et Hollandaise—Collection des Musées de Châteauroux) Somogy-Editions d'Art.