(follower of) Ruisdael, Jacob I. van Paintings

Jacob Isaackszoon van Ruisdael was one of the foremost landscape painters of the Dutch Golden Age. Born in Haarlem, Netherlands, either in 1628 or 1629, he was part of a family of artists; his father Isaack van Ruysdael was a painter and his uncle Salomon van Ruysdael was also a prominent landscape artist. Jacob was trained in the art of painting in his early years and had become a member of the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke by the age of twenty-one.

Van Ruisdael's work is renowned for its dramatic use of natural landscapes, often featuring skies, forests, and waterfalls as central elements. His paintings typically include a high horizon and a sense of the sublime, which was a key aspect of Romantic art, though he was painting before that movement formally began. He was a master at depicting the Dutch countryside in a way that conveyed both its beauty and its emotive power.

Despite his skill and the acclaim he received during his lifetime, van Ruisdael was not financially successful, and he died in relative obscurity in Amsterdam in 1682. It was not until the 19th century that his work was rediscovered and celebrated for its contribution to the development of landscape painting. Today, van Ruisdael is recognized as one of the most talented landscape artists of his time, and his work has had a lasting impact on the field of landscape painting.