Moonlit Landscape with a Windmill

early to mid 1650s

Aert van der Neer Dutch, 1603-1677

On View

Dutch Golden Age, Level 3, South Wing

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Catalogue Raisonné

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About the Artwork

Aert van der Neer observed the low-lying Dutch landscape with its commonplace rural structures through the lens of natural phenomena. The elements of his vistas were often plain, as seen here in the foreground fields, the mid-ground windmill, and the boats and buildings in the distance. But neither those elements nor their exact location is the subject of this painting. Rather, van der Neer paints moonlight as it streams through hovering clouds and casts an opalescent gleam upon the waters. He conceals the moon behind the prominent windmill at the center of the canvas, underscoring his intention to paint not the light source but the effect of its illumination. And that light from behind transforms the quotidian structure into a marvelous and monumental silhouette that dominates a landscape engulfed in mysterious shadows deftly painted in a brilliant range of subtle tones: deep violet-black, translucent rose-gray, and glistening light-struck white. From Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts 89 (2015)

Title Moonlit Landscape with a Windmill

Artwork Date early to mid 1650s

Artist Aert van der Neer

Life Dates 1603-1677

Nationality Please note: Definitions for nationality may vary significantly, depending on chronology and world events. Some definitions include: Belonging to a people having a common origin based on a geography and/or descent and/or tradition and/or culture and/or religion and/or language, or sharing membership in a legally defined nation. Dutch

Culture Please note: Cultures may be defined by the language, customs, religious beliefs, social norms, and material traits of a group. Unknown

Medium Oil on oak panel

Dimensions Unframed: 15 1/16 × 22 3/16 inches (38.3 × 56.4 cm) Framed: 22 1/2 × 29 3/4 × 1 7/8 inches (57.2 × 75.6 × 4.8 cm)

Classification Paintings

Department European Painting

Credit Founders Society Purchase; gifts from James E. Scripps, Alfred J. Fisher, Mr. and Mrs. Edgar B. Whitcomb, Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Field, Mr. and Mrs. Lee Hills, Richard H. Webber, Julie du Charme Marigliano, Edmund Delbos, Mrs. James S. Holden, Mrs. Elizabeth H. Coots and Carl F. Clarke by exchange

Accession Number This unique number is assigned to an individual artwork as part of the cataloguing process at the time of entry into the permanent collection. Most frequently, accession numbers begin with the year in which the artwork entered the museum’s holdings. For example, 2008.3 refers to the year of acquisition and notes that it was the 3rd of that year. The DIA has a few additional systems—no longer assigned—that identify specific donors or museum patronage groups. 2001.35

Markings

Signed Signed, lower right: AVDN [artist's monogram]

Inscriptions ------

Provenance

Sir Francis Cook [1817-1901], created baronet in 1886 (Doughty House, Richmond, Surrey, England)

by descent to his son, Sir Frederick Cook [1844-1920] (Doughty House, Richmond, Surrey, England)

by descent to his son, Sir Herbert Cook [1868-1939] (Doughty House, Richmond, Surrey, England)

by descent to his son, Sir Francis Ferdinand Maurice Cook [1907-1978] (Doughty House, Richmond, Surrey, England)

ca. 1958, (Thomas Agnew and Sons, London, England)

private collection (England)

2001, (Galerie Sanct Lucas, Vienna, Austria)

2001-present, purchase by the Detroit Institute of Arts (Detroit, Michigan, USA)

For more information on provenance and its important function in the museum, please visit:

Provenance page

Exhibition History

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The exhibition history of a number of objects in our collection only begins after their acquisition by the museum, and may reflect an incomplete record.

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Published References

Kronig, J.O. A Catalogue of Paintings at Doughty House, Richmond and Elsewhere in the Collection of Sir Frederick Cook, Bt.: Dutch and Flemish Schools. London, 1914, p. 64, no. 296. [no mention of monogram.]

Hofstede de Groot, C. Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten holländischen Maler des XVII Jahrhunderts, vol. 7. Esslingen and Paris, 1918, p. 430, no. 289. [no mention of monogram.]

Brockwell, M.W. Abridged Catalogue of the Pictures at Doughty House Richmond, Surrey in the Collection of Sir Herbert Cook, Bart. London, 1932, p. 37, no. 296. [no mention of monogram.]

Schulz, Wolfgang. Aert van der Neer. Ghent, 2002, p. 212, no. 320. [as “Wide Moonlit River Landscape with a Central Windmill Hiding the Moon”]

Masters of Dutch Painting: The Detroit Institute of Arts. London, 2004, pp. 144-145.

Keyes, G.S. "A Brief History of the European Paintings Collection at the Detroit Institute of Arts with a Focus on the Dutch School." in the catalogue for The European Fine Art Fair(TEFAF). Maastricht 2005, pp. 10-15.

Bulletin of the DIA: Notable Acquisitions, 2000–2015 89, no. 1/4 (2015): p. 11 (ill.).

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Catalogue Raisoneé

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Credit Line for Reproduction

Aert van der Neer, Moonlit Landscape with a Windmill, early to mid 1650s, oil on oak panel. Detroit Institute of Arts, Founders Society Purchase; gifts from James E. Scripps, Alfred J. Fisher, et al., 2001.35.