The Security in the Scenery

Salomon van Ruysdael's piece “River Landscape with Fishermen” simply shows what the title implies—a scene of men fishing on a river. A shoreline consisting mostly of trees and less developed land near the bottom right of the painting that becomes cityscape closer to the horizon at the left-hand edge. On the river itself there are several small fishing boats inhabiting the water and the scene, mostly through variations of lighting, portrays how the land and water provides a varying senses of security for the fishermen.

At first glance, the river’s water seems very inviting. The water is fairly still and extremely bright, especially when compared to the dark and shadowy trees in the right hand corner. These fishermen are rowing their boats from these shadows into the lighter area of the water. The fishermen are therefore surrounded by light whenever they row farther away from the shore. Ruysdael is using the classic symbolism of light vs. dark for good vs. evil in this painting. The river is drastically brighter than the shore which the fishermen are coming from; this shows that the river is so-called good. This brightness implies that the fishermen should feel safe, secure, and even happy when on the water compared to the doubt and fear that the shadows on the land invoke.

If a fisherman was on the land during the time of this painting, he would merely see the enticing light of the water. By looking out onto the water, he would mostly likely not pay attention to the clouds. Ruysdael further uses the symbolism of light vs. dark in the sky. Directly above the bright, inviting water which the fishermen are rowing towards, are several dark rainclouds. These clouds show that although the water might be appealing, the sky could decide at any moment to rain without considering the fishermen’s safety. The sky therefore proves that the sense of security that these fishermen feel about the water is false since they could easily be caught in a rainstorm on the water.

Of course the water is not the only aspect of the painting that could be considered inviting. Back near the horizon is a cityscape that is equally as bright and exciting as the river. It can be argued that this is a part of the shoreline making the shadows near the right less significant, but realistically, the trees and the city are seperate entities. Odds are that the men who are fishing in this painting don't go to the city much, causing that land to become very intriguing. The light shows that the fishermen truly desire to travel there, but this cityscape is covered by the same clouds as the river. This shows that the fishermen also have false hopes about the city. They believe that the urbanization is exciting and good, but they are unaware that something dark is looming above it.

This painting basically has four quadrants of light. The sky in the top right is fairly light and unthreatening while the sky in the top left is dark and ominous. Meanwhile, the water in the bottom left is bright and exciting and the land in the bottom right is shadowy and lurking. If you happen to cut the painting in half, however, there would be an equal balance of light and dark on each side. Ruysdael is showing that even though at first glance a person could easily decide which of the land or the river is safer, they both have a balance of evil as well as good. The fishermen might believe that they are safer or happier on the river or in the city, but Ruysdael is portraying that no matter the fishermen's predetermined feelings about a location, there is still the potential for an equal amount of happiness and harm as compared to anywhere else.