Inspiration through 340 years

Mountain Landscape with an old Oak Tree. Jacob van Ruisdael. 1660

Birch in a Storm. J.C. Dahl. 1849

Autumn. Terje Bergesen. 2002

Many of us may not be familiar with Jacob van Ruisdael. My first encounter was at the National Museum in May this year. Among the overwhelming amount of artwork, I noticed Mountain Landscape with Old Oak Tree from the 1660s. The reason was that I associated it with J. C. Dahl's painting Birch in a Storm. It turned out that the Dutch artist Ruisdael had been an important role model for the Norwegian painter J. C. Dahl, even though he lived about 190 years earlier. I have a photograph taken by Norwegian art photographer Terje Bergesen, entitled Autumn 2002, which features a tree in a similar pose. In other words, there are about 340 years between the first and last picture.

I had a conversation with Terje Bergesen and asked about his relationship with J.C. Dahl. He could tell that as a child, he had visited his aunt in Oslo, and she had a reproduction of "Birch in a Storm" hanging in the living room. He could confirm that it had inspired him to create a picture book about trees about forty years later, which included my picture.

The purpose of sharing this story is that art history is a valuable source of inspiration. Although there are many eras and styles, pictures are timeless in the sense that they can trigger imagination and ideas, like something that is happening or has happened in our own lives.

We don't have to be painters or photographers to be inspired; we just enjoy what we see and let it sink in.

Facts:

Jacob van Ruisdael. Mountain Landscape with an old Oak Tree, The Baroque Era. År ca 1660.

J. C. Dahl, Birch in a Storm, Nasjonalromantikken. År 1849.

Terje Bergesen. Autumn, 2002 from the book Trees (2009).