# River Landscape

[View the canonical artwork record](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/kessel-jan-van-i-ra48c6ed51d2b75/river-landscape-r575ea901a5d4ec>)

## Artwork

- Artist: [KESSEL, Jan van, I](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/kessel-jan-van-i-ra48c6ed51d2b75>)
- Date: 1651-1700
- Technique: Oil on copper, 25 x 34 cm

## Commentary

This painting depicting a river landscape with figures on a track is an unusual work for van Kessel, only a handful of other peasant scenes by him are known. He typically painted a range of still-lifes and garland pictures, featuring animals, plants and insects. This landscape demonstrates the influence of the Brueghel family on van Kessel: he was trained by his uncle Jan Brueghel the Younger. The crucial compositional feature of the landscape is the river running in a straight line through the work, guiding the eye through the landscape. This was a recurring motif in the landscape painting of both Brueghel the Elder and his son. The painting is signed lower centre: &#39;I. V. KESSEL. F.&#39;

## Related artworks

- [A Garland of Flowers](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/kessel-jan-van-i-ra48c6ed51d2b75/a-garland-of-flowers-r006b39845e9b27>)
- [Birds on a Riverbank](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/kessel-jan-van-i-ra48c6ed51d2b75/birds-on-a-riverbank-rdd4f3363ce89c1>)
- [Birds](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/kessel-jan-van-i-ra48c6ed51d2b75/birds-re4dc0a66fcddd0>)
- [Butterflies and Insects](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/kessel-jan-van-i-ra48c6ed51d2b75/butterflies-and-insects-r1876c3b1b0d1c6>)
- [Flowers](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/kessel-jan-van-i-ra48c6ed51d2b75/flowers-r8175498bf33b11>)
- [Harbour Scene with Fish](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/kessel-jan-van-i-ra48c6ed51d2b75/harbour-scene-with-fish-rf98e5ff958392f>)
- [Holy Family](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/kessel-jan-van-i-ra48c6ed51d2b75/holy-family-r7c3c13f033d996>)
- [Insects](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/kessel-jan-van-i-ra48c6ed51d2b75/insects-r432021065950ef>)
- [Insects](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/kessel-jan-van-i-ra48c6ed51d2b75/insects-r796144112cdd3a>)
- [Insects](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/kessel-jan-van-i-ra48c6ed51d2b75/insects-re134419ba598ce>)
- [Interior of a Kitchen with a Dog](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/kessel-jan-van-i-ra48c6ed51d2b75/interior-of-a-kitchen-with-a-dog-r29f13f67059938>)
- [Madonna with the Child and St Ildephonsus Framed with a Garland of Flowers](<https://beta.wga.hu/artists/kessel-jan-van-i-ra48c6ed51d2b75/madonna-with-the-child-and-st-ildephonsus-framed-with-a-garland-of-flowers-rf63d77688871c3>)

## Attribution

[Web Gallery of Art](<https://beta.wga.hu/pages/about>)