Landscape with Two Eel Fishermen by a Ditch c. 1625 - 1630

Curator: Here at the Rijksmuseum, we have Hendrick Avercamp's "Landscape with Two Eel Fishermen by a Ditch," created around 1625 to 1630. It's a tempera and watercolor work offering a glimpse into a bustling Dutch scene. What springs to mind for you when you first see it? Editor: Immediately, I think of quiet industry, that steady rhythm of rural life rendered in soft colours, all beige and blue-green, kind of muted overall. Curator: Absolutely. Avercamp had a remarkable eye for capturing the details of everyday life. The figures are tiny, almost doll-like, but the landscape teems with them – a caravan, riders on horseback, figures in a small vessel, not to mention a couple of blokes with a net who are trying to pull eels out of a ditch! Editor: They’re so immersed in their work, you almost miss them against this busy backdrop. Compositionally, they are placed close to the front edge which creates this sensation that the action of the painting expands beyond the frame, outwards and forwards. It is really nice. Curator: Avercamp was deaf, and perhaps that sharpened his sense of observation, allowing him to translate the world around him into these captivating scenes, a lot of which feature people having fun in Winterscapes. It is quite touching. Editor: True. This doesn't have his trademark snow, though, which I am actually happy about. Still, you feel it, this silent observer painstakingly creating such a vivid microcosm. There’s such a strange harmony here, wouldn’t you say? Curator: A very carefully observed harmony, indeed. And though on the surface it appears a simple genre painting, there's real artistry in how Avercamp balances detail with atmosphere, crafting a world that feels both familiar and slightly dreamlike. It definitely offers a gentle and pleasant scene overall. Editor: Well, for me, this piece whispers stories of simple toil. This watercolor seems deceptively gentle, doesn’t it? But behind those colours, the painting reveals just the artist’s precise and intricate perspective. I guess Avercamp makes this ordinary scene quite remarkable, even timeless, somehow. Curator: Yes, exactly. The longer I look at it, the more layers I see—of human activity and also artistic skill. Thanks for highlighting some nuances within its simplicity.