Meindert Hobbema

A young friend and student of Jacob van Ruisdael, Meindert Hobbema (who was baptized on this day in 1638 in Amsterdam) painted Ruisdael-like landscapes almost as a commodity, most of them with low flat horizons and evidencing pockets of sunlight peeking through dense clumps of trees near tranquil ponds. At 30 he gave up painting full-time to become a wine-gauger at the Amsterdam customs house, but he produced some of his best-known paintings (including The Avenue at Middelharnis, 1689) as a hobbyist late in life. He became tremendously popular in England in particular.