Drawing the Eel. Artist: Salomon van Ruysdael (Dutch, Naarden, born ca. 1600-1603, died 1670 Haarlem). Dimensions: 29 1/2 x 41 3/4 in. (74.9 x 106 cm). Date: early 1650s.
This picture of a village entertainment on a crisp winter day is one of the finest of the 174 paintings acquired in the Museum's founding 1871 Purchase. The eel or herring dangling from a line strung from tavern to tree is the slippery target of couples charging by on horseback. Since at least the time of Pieter Bruegel the Elder in the 1560s, country pleasures were a subject enjoyed by urban art collectors.