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The Avenue at Middelharnis

Image credit: The National Gallery, London

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Hobbema has created a remarkable effect in this unusual painting, using the trees of the avenue to funnel our view directly into the heart of the picture and as strong verticals to take the eye upwards. Our gaze is also drawn sideways into the landscape, through both the track which turns off to the right and the strong lateral lines of the paths and fields on the left. It’s as though there is a three-dimensional grid – an invisible geometry – underlying the whole painting. The composition proved to be a powerful influence on later artists. It was admired by Van Gogh, who emulated its effects in several paintings after he first saw it in the National Gallery in 1884, and it probably also inspired Camille Pissarro’s The Avenue, Sydenham.

The National Gallery, London

London

Title

The Avenue at Middelharnis

Date

1689

Medium

Oil on canvas

Measurements

H 103.5 x W 141 cm

Accession number

NG830

Acquisition method

Bought, 1871

Work type

Painting

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Normally on display at

The National Gallery, London

Trafalgar Square, London, Greater London WC2N 5DN England

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