Winter Landscape with Skater

About the Artwork

In this drawing, the Dutch landscape painter Jan van Kessel depicted a rustic rural scene showing rundown sheds beside a frozen canal with a small village church beyond. A skater glides under an overgrown stone bridge. Such rural landscape scenes, considered fundamentally Dutch, became the focus of the Dutch landscape school in the 17th century. Van Kessel was also noted for his trees; the central tree in this image was rendered with black chalk and grey ink wash to create a gently shimmering effect.

Inscriptions

recto, signed and date lower left in pen and black ink: JKesssel 1662; verso, inscribed in graphite, lower right: Jan van Kessel 16(0?)8-1698; verso, in lower left border (cut off and covered with hinge) [letters} 03 S

Quick Overview

Artist: Jan van Kessel (Dutch, 1641–1680)
Date: 1662
Medium: brush and black ink and grey wash over black chalk on cream laid paper; brown ink framing line
Dimensions: Sheet: 24 x 31.3 cm (9 7/16 x 12 5/16 in.); Matted: 31.1 x 36.5 x 0.5 cm (12 1/4 x 14 3/8 x 3/16 in.); Image: 17.9 x 25.8 cm (7 1/16 x 10 3/16 in.)
Type: Drawing
Classification: Drawing
Department: Drawings
Credit line: John L. Severance Fund
Accession no.: 2019.7

Provenance

Private Collection, Amsterdam, Netherlands March 4, 2019: the Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.