 Hello everyone and welcome to another Barnes Takeout. I'm Tamara J. Mason, art historian and art team associate here at the Barnes Foundation and today I'll be discussing this painting, Rhine River Near Hrenen by Salomon von Hoistel. Now before discussing the work itself let's take a look at the wall or an ensemble that it's included in. The picture hangs on the south facing wall in gallery 15 flanking Matisse's red madras in the center. As we may already know Dr. Barnes placed these works alongside one another for their visual affinities providing an entree a way for his students and now visitors to be able to engage with the art. This ensemble what we see is the connection color has within these works. It's not the only connection but certainly one of them. Blue and red seem to have a dominant presence throughout each work and so these two colors act as one way for an observer to experience and be immersed in this ensemble. Now attending to the work as an art historian of the Dutch and Spanish Renaissance works like this speak to my research interests. Von Roistel was a Dutch artist born in Nardin, Netherlands in 1602 possibly 1603. He became a member of the Saint Luke's Guild in 1623 a requirement for all master artists. Before opening a workshop an artist had to undergo extensive training under a master and once finished would present a masterwork or masterpiece which is where we actually get the term masterpiece from in order to be considered for membership. This would have made Van Roistel around 20 when he became a master artist eligible for his own workshop. His style like the one presented here focused on the water and landscapes during what has been called the golden age of Dutch landscapes. Van Roistel worked within a style known as tonal painting a style with limited tonality or color differences within the composition. Viewing this work we see a selection of ochres, whites, blues, yellows, and soft pinks coming together to present this quiet scene of Dutch river life. This particular style was pioneered by Van Roistel along with his fellow Dutchman Van Hoyen an artist discussed in a previous barn's takeout on his work in gallery 14 called Watchtower and here we have the image presented. Focusing in on the scene from Van Roistel we see figures within a boat but their identities are obscured as the tonal differences between them and their surroundings makes it difficult to make them out. The figures almost blend into the ochres of the boat and the rolling hills behind them. Van Roistel like Van Hoyen worked in this style revolutionizing the way artists approached not only the subject of landscape but also how an artist navigated an ever-evolving art market. So what more can we say about Van Roistel's work? Well it's certainly bucolic and serene but you know like that of Van Hoyen it reflects the events which unfolded in the Netherlands that began in the previous century. At the time of the creation of their work two monumental events occurred the century prior that urged artists to become more inventive in their approach to art making. First the rise of the Protestant Reformation in the Netherlands and second the 80 years war. The rise of Protestantism began in earnest in the early part of the 16th century and saw the closure of Catholic churches reopening then as Protestant ones with the removal of religious iconography deemed idolatrous. Protestant churches in the Netherlands during this time were austere removing all the former religious decorations that regaled Catholic churches. Now the 80 years war also known as the Dutch War of Independence which began in 1568 and ended in 1648 was the war that ended the reign of the Habsburgs headed by Philip II of Spain over the northern Netherlands effectively making the Netherlands a republic. With these two events Dutch artists lost two valuable patrons the church which often purchased high value paintings depicting religious scenes and the monarchy who also commissioned works of grand size and effort. Without them artists struggled to make a name for themselves and earn a living because there were fewer rich patrons to commission large-scale works. Artists in the Netherlands were left unsure of who or even when a painting would sell so they often had to go into debt in order to create a work with no guarantee that someone would buy it once it was done. What Van Roistel and others did with this tonal style of painting was carve out a niche for themselves within the market in order to remain viable artists. The tonal style removed the necessity for high priced minerals which were often imported and used to create expensive pigments. Instead more common or more easily locally sourced minerals were used to cut down on the expense of creating these works. The size of the paintings was reduced as well in order to manage the expense an artist would have to take on in having to purchase the canvas the structure and the frame. Now in the case of this particular painting it was actually done on wood paneling rather than canvas which was a far cheaper material than canvas to procure making it all the more inexpensive to make. These reduced paintings also made it much easier to transport them to actual markets where they would be sold to the rising middle and merchant classes who were feverishly purchasing works of art to adorn their homes. Van Roistel and the other tonal artists used this technique as a way to mitigate the possibility of ruin by not painting large scale expensive works without actual patrons who would buy them. Now their nuanced approach to the art market targeted an audience that they could always tap into effectively creating a new market for middle range art or art for the middle class. So returning back to the painting itself what cannot be overlooked is the presence of not only one but four and you know a half if you include the sliver of Dutch flags in the scene. This profusion of flags strikes the note of Dutch identity. This is not only a painting about a lazy river with a few boats but a declaration of Dutchness. The Netherlands is now a republic free of the constraints of a foreign sovereign but also free of the control of the church and like the fight for freedom from these powers the Dutch had long fought the other presence in the scene, water itself. A common hallmark of Dutch identity is its perpetual fight against the raging waters that constantly threatened to subdue the lands it once occupied. The Dutch windmills which we see littered in the background atop a distant hill was one of their biggest feats of engineering transforming a once swampy and uninhabitable land into one of the most powerful countries in Europe. In the painting von Roistel hints at an identity of prosperity, serenity, but also of a will to thrive as a country and all done with the most common of colors. Thank you for listening and I hope to see you next time.