'Dutch Canal' is an original oil painting by an artist in the school or circle of Dutch Golden Age painter Aert van der Neer. Based on the labels on the artwork, the painting has borne an attribution to Aert van der Neer since approximately the late 19th century. As is typical of works by van der Neer and his circle, it depicts a number of figures interacting within the landscape – rowing a boat, chatting at the edge of a private property, and walking through the woods. Indeed, this work is similar to a work with full attribution to van der Neer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art entitled 'Landscape at Sunset" (17.190.11) which likewise features such staffage. Nonetheless, a full attribution to Aert van der Neer is here unfitting; van der Neer's landscapes are usually more moody and show special attention to the effects of light and atmosphere. Here, however, the sky is a bright and luminous blue like those seen in works by Jacob van Ruisdael or Meindert Hobbema. Regardless of attribution, the painting shows the skill of artists in the Dutch Golden Age and the tastes of patrons of that period.

Canvas Size: 16" x 20"
Frame Size: 23 5/8" x 27 3/4"
Plaque affixed to frame with title "A Dutch Canal" and attribution to Aert van der Neer, bottom center
Inscribed "Van de Neer" in pencil, on reverse of frame, upper right
Inscribed "17B" in pencil, on reverse of stretcher, upper left
Indecipherable label with red border on reverse of stretcher, upper left
Inscribed "A van der Neer" in pencil, on reverse of stretcher, upper right
Label with biography of Aert van der Neer on reverse of stretcher, bottom center

Presented in a wood and composition frame with gold leaf finish.
Overall good restored condition; relined; areas of retouching, especially in the sky; craquelure throughout; some planar distortion along bottom edge; some surface losses to frame.