Jan Van Kessel

Dated 1669, the View of the Keizersgracht and the Westerkerk in Amsterdam demonstrates Jan van Kessel’s consummate technical mastery. The painting’s sense of depth is achieved through the juxtaposition of three planes. In the foreground, the canal is dotted with boats and swans gliding nonchalantly. The middle ground is entirely occupied by large trees that partially obscure the church. For the background, Van Kessel uses side lighting that gradually catches the mast of the boat, the bricks of the quay and the leaves of the trees, violently highlighting certain elements. All attention is thus focused on the wall with its soft pink tones, the light-coloured stones of the gateway, the merchant’s stall in front of which two onlookers are chatting, and the tower and gable of the church building visible behind the trees. His richly nuanced palette avoids any garish or discordant tones.Through his meticulous rendering of every detail and his vision of an almost photographic realism, Jan van Kessel follows in the great tradition of Dutch urban landscape painting.

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