The Herengracht in Amsterdam

Jan Wijnants
c. 1660–1661
Oil on canvas, 67.2 x 81.6 cm.
Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland
The Herengracht in Amsterdam,  Jan Wijnants

WINJANTS, Jan
c. 1630, Haarlem–1684, Amsterdam

Jan Wijnants (Winants), Dutch landscape painter, active first in Haarlem, then from 1660 in Amsterdam, where he also kept an inn, but was still always in debt. He specialized in landscapes with dunes and sandy roads, inspired by the countryside around Haarlem—unpretentious, naturalistic views that were favorites with collectors in the seventeenth and 18th centuries.

Wijnants was prolific and his work is in many public collections. Adriaen van de Velde was his pupil and Gainsborough was among the artists he influenced.