Johannes Willem Tingeler (Cologne 1746-1811 The Hague)

Signed and dated '1788', this charming scene is part of the Dutch tradition of winter landscapes popularized in the 17th century by Hendrick Avercamp, Aert van der Neer, Jan van de Capelle, and Adriaen van de Velde. As Peter Sutton notes, Tingeler is "not listed in any of the standard artists' lexicons. However, like many 18th-century Netherlandish painters, he seems to have admired his predecessors among the winter landscapists of the Golden Age" (loc. cit.). The merry figures frolicking on the ice, picturesque windmills in the distance, and the woman taking a tumble in the foreground are indeed reminiscent of the popular scenes of this type from the previous century, here reinvented with Tingeler's more modern palette and slick brushwork.