Landscape with a View toward Haarlem (The Goldweigher's Field)

Landscape with a View toward Haarlem (The Goldweigher's Field), executed by Rembrandt van Rijn in 1651, stands as one of the artist's most celebrated achievements in landscape printmaking. This highly technical work was created using a combination of etching and drypoint on laid paper, a medium that allowed Rijn to achieve extraordinary textures and atmospheric depth. The piece belongs to the height of the Dutch Golden Age, falling squarely within the flourishing period of 1651 to 1700, when representations of the specific Dutch environment were particularly prized.

Rijn utilizes the drypoint technique, evident in the rich burr that provides velvety shadow, especially noticeable in the dense foliage and figures in the immediate foreground. This textural variation contrasts sharply with the delicate, finely etched lines used to render the distant cityscape and clouds, suggesting a vast distance traveled by the eye. The dynamic composition draws the viewer across a dramatic contrast between the heavily shadowed foreground and the bright, sun-drenched vista beyond.

The subject depicts a panoramic view stretching across flatlands toward the recognizable silhouette of Haarlem on the horizon. The work's popular nickname, The Goldweigher's Field, is derived from the fact that the land belonged to Christiaan Goldtwijck (Goldweigher), whose stately home appears near the center-right of the composition, anchoring the middle ground. Rijn executed only a limited number of pure landscapes in his printmaking career, making this work a crucial document of his ability to imbue the common scenery of the Netherlands with intense emotional and atmospheric quality.

The complexity of the technique and the resulting dramatic effect solidified the status of Landscape with a View toward Haarlem as a landmark work in the history of graphic arts. Today, high-resolution images of these master prints are often available for study through digitized public domain collections. This exceptional impression of the etching and drypoint remains an important part of the collection at the National Gallery of Art.