Ruisdael's work was in demand in the Dutch Republic during his lifetime. Ruisdael always spelt his name thus: Ruisdael, not Ruysdael. Hobbema's work has at times been confused with Ruisdael's. Ruisdael's only registered pupil was Meindert Hobbema, one of several artists who painted figures in his landscapes. In total he produced more than 150 Scandinavian views featuring waterfalls. In these, the sky often took up two-thirds of the canvas. In his late work, conducted when he lived and worked in Amsterdam, he added city panoramas and seascapes to his regular repertoire. After a trip to Germany in 1650, his landscapes took on a more heroic character. From 1646 he painted Dutch countryside scenes of remarkable quality for a young man. Prolific and versatile, Ruisdael depicted a wide variety of landscape subjects. He is generally considered the pre-eminent landscape painter of the Dutch Golden Age, a period of great wealth and cultural achievement when Dutch painting became highly popular.
Jacob Isaackszoon van Ruisdael ( Dutch pronunciation: ( listen) c. 1629 – 10 March 1682) was a Dutch painter, draughtsman, and etcher. The Jewish Cemetery, Windmill at Wijk bij Duurstede, View of Haarlem with Bleaching Fields, The Ray of Light, A Wooded Marsh
