Windmill near Rotterdam

Johan Barthold Jongkind painted this windmill near Rotterdam during one of his many summer visits to his Dutch homeland. Here, Jongkind’s loose brushwork suggests a breezy day on the canals as windmills turn and boats drift by.

Jongkind was particularly interested in watercolor as a means of capturing rapidly changing light and atmospheric effects, and played a crucial role in the rise of Impressionist outdoor painting in France. He became a mentor to the young painter, Claude Monet, who later described Jongkind as his “true master.”