Wooded Landscape

after 1648

Wooded Landscape, after 1648. Anthonie Waterloo (Dutch, 1609/10–1690). Charcoal applied wet, brush and black and brown and white washes; black ink framing line on antique brown laid paper; sheet: 28.8 x 46.3 cm (11 5/16 x 18 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 2019.16 Known exclusively for his drawings and prints, the Dutch artist Anthonie Waterloo specialized in tree studies and dense forest scenes such as this drawing. Here he created a vista through groupings of tall trees, producing the effect of shimmering light and movement with his unique technique of using wet charcoal over dry chalk. He added a subtle white wash throughout the center of the composition to create the hint of the sun’s glow beyond the trees. Such a work would have been sold as a finished work of art. Studies of dense forests and individual trees were a specialty of Dutch artists in the 1600s.