River scene with fishermen in a rowing boat in the foreground

Arent Arentsz c.1585 - 1635

Summary

In this painting Arentsz. celebrates the simplicity of Dutch rural life, using an oblong panel to accentuate Amsterdam's low-lying, watery landscape. The horizon is only interrupted by the windmills and boat masts, as well as an obelisk then used to mark the city's boundary. Paintings of the native Dutch landscape were much in demand in the Netherlands in the 17th century. Collectors admired the realistic portrayals of the flat, expansive plains, waterways and sand dunes, as well as the distinctive skylines of towns and cities. Dutch artists were inspired to paint in this way by earlier Flemish landscapists, who sketched nature from life, using their imagination to embellish this familiar subject. The son of an Amsterdam sail-maker, Arentsz. gained the ‘soubriquet' Cabel from ‘De Cabel' (The Cable), the house in Amsterdam, where spent his childhood; he later built another house on the Pinsengracht, where he remained until he died. Almost all of his pictures depict peasants, fishermen and hunters engaged in their everyday activities on or near water.

Display Label

River Landscape with Fishermen early 1620s Arent Arentsz called Cabel 1585/86-1631 Oil on panel Arentsz, also known as Cabel, celebrates the simplicity of Dutch life. The oblong panel accentuates Amsterdam’s low-lying, watery landscape. The horizon is only interrupted by the windmills and boat masts, as well as an obelisk then used to mark the city’s boundaries. Cabel was active in Amsterdam in the early 1600s. His paintings combine landscape with scenes of everyday life. He may have been inspired by the work of Flemish artists who had left the Southern Netherlands for Amsterdam in search of work, or to flee the Catholic Spanish regime. These Flemish landscapists were themselves inspired by the lively peasant scenes of Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1525/30-69). Assheton Bennett bequest 1979.439