Rivierlandschap met op de voorgrond een man met een schepnet 1675 - 1722

Hendrik van der Straaten made this river landscape with watercolor and ink, sometime around the turn of the 18th century. The artist clearly knew what he was doing with the wash technique. Look at the way the diluted ink is used to create volume in the trees, and to suggest depth in the scene overall. The thinness of the application creates a sense of transience, the light filtering through the foliage, the clouds in motion. Even the figure in the foreground seems caught in a moment of passing. While we rightly admire the artist’s skill, it’s worth noting that the ready availability of paper, ink, and brushes was very much of its time. Developments in manufacturing and trade made these materials cheap enough to become commonplace, supporting a boom in amateur artmaking. So while van der Straaten was undoubtedly talented, he was also a beneficiary of the early modern economy.