VAN RUYSDAEL, Salomon (Naarden, c. 1600/03 – Haarlem, 1670)
Salomon Jocobsz. van Ruysdael was born in Naarden in Gooiland. He was originally called Salomon de Go(o)yer, but he and his brother Isaack (1599–1677), who was also an artist, adopted the name Ruysdael, possibly from Castle Ruisdael (or Ruisschendael), near their father’s home town. Salomon spelled his name Ruysdael (or occasionally Ruyesdael), as distinguished from his nephew Jacob, who used Ruisdael. In 1623 Salomon entered the painters’ guild in Haarlem (as Salomon de Gooyer), was named a vinder of the guild in 1647, a deacon the following year, and a vinder again in 1669. His earliest known dated painting is of 1626, and he was praised as a landscapist as early as 1628 by the chronicler of Haarlem, Samuel van Ampzing. He was called a merchant in 1651 and dealt in blue dye for Haarlem’s bleacheries. His wife, Maycken Buysse, was buried in Saint Bavo’s Church in Haarlem on 25 December 1660. Like his father, Salomon was a Mennonite and in 1669 was listed among the members of the “Vereenigde Vlaamsche, Hoogduitsche en Friesche Gemeente” when he was living on the Kleyne Houtstraat. As a Mennonite, he could not bear arms and instead contributed financially to Haarlem’s civic guard. Although Salomon seems to have lived and worked in Haarlem his entire life, he probably made several trips through the Netherlands, making views of, among other places, Leyden, Utrecht, Amersfoort, Arnhem, Alkmaar, Rhenen, and Dordrecht. The artist was buried in Saint Bavo’s Church in Haarlem on 3 November 1670.
Although Solomon’s teacher is unknown, his earliest work of about 1626–1629 recall the art of Esaias van de Velde, who worked in Haarlem from 1609 to 1618. In addition to Van de Velde’s influence, these early works reveal many parallels with Jan van Goyen’s work. Together with Pieter de Molijn, Salomon van Ruysdael and Jan van Goyen were the leading “tonal” landscapists of their generation and seem to have influenced each other. They laid the foundation for the great “classical” period of Dutch landscape painting that followed. In addition to landscapes and numerous river and seascapes of a calm, never stormy, type, he painted a few still-life paintings in his later years. Salomon was the father of Jacob Salomonsz. van Ruysdael (c. 1629/30–1681), also a painter.
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