Winter Scene on a Canal

Artist Hendrik Avercamp (Dutch, 1585-1634)

Place of OriginNetherlands

Dateabout 1615

DimensionsFrame (H x W x D): 25 1/4 × 44 1/4 × 2 in. (64.1 × 112.4 × 5.1 cm)
Painting (H x W): 18 7/8 × 37 5/8 in. (47.9 × 95.6 cm)

Mediumoil on wood panel

ClassificationPaintings

Credit LinePurchased with funds from the Libbey Endowment, Gift of Edward Drummond Libbey

Object number

1951.402

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 22

Label TextA canal has frozen over in a Dutch village, trapping boats and inviting people of different social backgrounds to mingle on the ice. Gentlemen and ladies greet one another, ride a horse-drawn sleigh, and rent skates alongside humbler villagers. A group of merchant-class men in the center foreground play kolf, a game related to golf, while three industrious peasants in the right foreground prepare to fish for eel through the ice. Hendrick Avercamp, whose work was quite popular in his day, was best known for his winter landscapes and marine paintings. Into this scene he packs a wealth of small but telling details, from the man relieving himself behind a tree to the wading boots stuck on fence posts. He also included details that suggest mini-narratives: distant skaters who have fallen on the ice, the dog barking at the closed barn door, and the lone figure in the left foreground walking away from the festivities. The scene stretches into the distance, where the frozen waterway meets heavy skies, emphasizing the flatness of the Dutch landscape.Published ReferencesToledo Museum of Art Museum News, no. 131, Jan. 1952, repr. on cover (det.).

Wittmann, Otto, Jr., "The life of the people," Toledo Museum of Art Museum News, vol. 1, no.3, Fall 1957, p. 4-[5], repr. p. 3.

Connoisseur, vol. 142, no. 571, August 1958, p. 64.

Rosenberg, J., S. Slive and E. ter Kuile, Dutch Art and Architecture, 1600 to 1800, Harmondsworth, 1966, p. 145, pl. 121A, 3rd (2nd integrated) ed., 1977, p. 247, fig. 195, p. 248.

A Guide to the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo, 1966, repr.

Wittmann, Otto, "The Golden Age in the Netherlands," Apollo, vol. 86, no. 70, December 1967, p. 472, 474, repr. (b&w), fig. 10, p. 470.

The Toledo Museum of Art, The Toledo Museum of Art, European Paintings, Toledo, 1976, pp. 19-20, pl. 93.

The Toledo Museum of Art: A Guide to the Collections, Toledo, 1976, repr. p. 50-51 (col.).

Welcker, Clara J., Hendrick Avercamp 1585-1634... Berent Avercamp 1612-1679: "Schilders tot Campen," Doornspijk, 1979, p. 216.

Blankert, Albert, "Hendrick Avercamp als schilder van Winters," Tableau, vol. 4, no. 6, Summer 1982, p. 612, repr. fig. 22, p. 613.

Blankert, Albert, "Hendrick Avercamp," in Frozen Silence, Amsterdam, 1982, p. 27, repr. fig. 8.

Great Dutch paintings from America, The Hague, 1990, p. 106.

Koch-Hillebrecht, Manfred, Museen in den USA: Gemälde, Munich, 1992, p. 232.

Slive, Seymour, Dutch painting 1600-1800, New Haven, 1995, p. 181, fig. 246, (col.), title page (det.col.).

VanSuchtelen, Ariane, Holland frozen in time: the Dutch winter landscape in the Golden Age, Zwolle, 2001, p. 82, 84, 160, n. 5, fig. 2, p. 84.

Hendrick Avercamp: Amsterdam 1585-1634 Kampen, London, Richard Green [2004] p. 6, 8, repr. p. 4.

Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Museum of Art Masterworks, Toledo, 2009, p. 156, repr. (col.).

Reich, Paula, Toledo Museum of Art: Map and Guide, London, Scala, 2009, p. 19, repr. (col.) and (det.).

Roelofs, Pieter. Hendrick Avercamp: Master of the Ice Scene, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, 2009, p. 47-48, 56, 129, fig. 38 (col.) p. 47.

Exhibition HistoryParis, Orangerie, Le paysage hollandais au XVIIe siècle, 1950, no. 2, repr.

Toledo, The Toledo Museum of Art, Dutch Painting, The Golden Age, 1954, no.1, repr. (also at: New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art Gallery of Toronto)