''Two Watermills and an Open Sluice near Singraven'' (c. 1650) is an

oil An oil is any nonpolar chemical substance that is composed primarily of hydrocarbons and is hydrophobic (does not mix with water) & lipophilic (mixes with other oils). Oils are usually flammable and surface active. Most oils are unsaturated ...

on canvas painting by the

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

landscape painter

Jacob van Ruisdael Jacob Isaackszoon van Ruisdael (; 1629 – 10 March 1682) was a Dutch painter, draughtsman, and etcher. He is generally considered the pre-eminent landscape painter of the Dutch Golden Age, a period of great wealth and cultural achi ...

. It is an example of

Dutch Golden Age painting Dutch Golden Age painting is the painting of the Dutch Golden Age, a period in Dutch history roughly spanning the 17th century, during and after the later part of the Eighty Years' War (1568–1648) for Dutch independence. The new Dutch Republ ...

and is now in the collection of the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

. This painting was documented by

Hofstede de Groot Cornelis Hofstede de Groot (9 November 1863 – 14 April 1930), was a Dutch art collector, art historian and museum curator. Life He was born in Dwingeloo and spent some time in Switzerland in his youth due to weak lungs, where he learned Germa ...

in 1911, who wrote; "148. THE WATER-MILLS. Sm. 17. In the left centre are two water-mills on either side of a stream flowing to the right front. The mill to the left is partly cut off by the frame and hidden by an oak tree. Between the mills are three water-wheels, two on the left and one on the right, with an open sluice-gate in the centre, through which the stream rushes down. A man stands on the footbridge above raising the gate. Behind the mill on the right is a tree. Beyond the sluice on the right bank is another house. On the left bank in front are reeds. In the right foreground is a tree-trunk in the water, with plants on the bank. A flight of steps goes up the right bank to a path up a hill, on the top of which, in the right distance, are a village church and a wind-mill amid trees. Cloudy sky. The same mills, seen from a nearer standpoint, but without the landscape on the right and with the right-hand mill in ruins, are represented in 157. Signed in full; canvas, 34 inches by 43 1/2 inches. Sale. Thomas Emmerson, London, 1832 (504). In the collection of Wynn Ellis, 1854 ( Waagen, ii. 297); bequeathed in 1876 to the National Gallery. In the National Gallery, London, Wynn Ellis bequest, 1906 catalogue, No. 986." Entry 148 for ''Two Watermills and an Open Sluice near Singraven''
in Hofstede de Groot, 1911 This scene is very similar to other paintings Ruisdael made in this period of watermills and these often served as inspiration for later painters of landscape. This location has been determined to be Singraven, part of

Dinkelland Dinkelland () is a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the eastern Netherlands. For a short time it was known as Denekamp (one of its component towns) until it was renamed in 2002. Population centres Notable people * Johan Jon ...

near

Ootmarsum Ootmarsum is a city in the Dutch province of Overijssel. It is a part of the municipality of Dinkelland, and lies about 10 km north of Oldenzaal. In 2001, the city of Ootmarsum had 4227 inhabitants. The built-up area of the city was 1.5 ...

, subject of more paintings by Ruisdael.

Gallery

Ruisdael, Les deux moulins.jpg, '' Two Mills'',

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Strasbourg (Museum of Fine Arts of Strasbourg) is the old masters paintings collection of the city of Strasbourg, located in the Alsace region of France. The museum is housed in the first and second floors of the ...

. Jacob van Ruisdael - Winter Landscape with a Watermill.jpg, Private collection. Jacob van Ruisdael - Watermill.jpg, Private collection. Meindert Hobbema - Een watermolen - Google Art Project.jpg, Same mill by

Meindert Hobbema Meindert Lubbertszoon Hobbema (bapt. 31 October 1638 – 7 December 1709) was a Dutch Golden Age painter of landscapes, specializing in views of woodland, although his most famous painting, ''The Avenue at Middelharnis'' (1689, National Galler ...

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the St ...

. Watermolen van Singraven.jpg, Watermills of Singraven in 2013

References

Landschap met twee watermolens bij een sluis, vóór 1653 (Slive 2001; zie bronnen)
in the

RKD The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: RKD-Nederlands Instituut voor Kunstgeschiedenis), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center i ...

17. View of a Watermill
in Smith's catalogue raisonné volume 6, 1835 {{DEFAULTSORT:Two Watermills and an Open Sluice near Singraven 1650s paintings Paintings by Jacob van Ruisdael Collections of the National Gallery, London Water in art