Artwork
Summer at the "Lily" Tavern
Summer at the "Lily" Tavern is an unspecified painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Jan van Goyen. It dates from 1635 and is held in the collection of the Statens Museum for Kunst.
About this work
Overview
Jan van Goyen painted Summer at the "Lily" Tavern in 1635, a work that exemplifies his output during the Dutch Golden Age. The canvas, now held by the Statens Museum for Kunst, captures a quiet summer day at a rural inn, presenting a modest yet lively composition of people, animals, and landscape.
Subject & Meaning
The scene centers on a red‑brick tavern with a sloping roof, surrounded by a dirt road that draws the eye toward the building. Figures gather on the steps and in the doorway, while a rider on a horse approaches from the left. A solitary tree to the right and an expansive field beyond frame the social activity within a broader countryside setting.
Technique & Style
Van Goyen employs a restrained palette of browns, greens, and grays, creating a warm, subdued atmosphere. His brushwork is loose and expressive, suggesting movement in the clouds and the distant field while maintaining a sense of calm in the foreground figures and architecture.
History & Provenance
Created amid a prolific career that yielded roughly twelve hundred paintings and over a thousand drawings, the work reflects van Goyen’s versatility in depicting both landscape and genre scenes. It entered the collection of Denmark’s national gallery, the Statens Museum for Kunst, where it remains on display.
Artist & collection
Artist
Jan Josephszoon van Goyen (Dutch pronunciation: ; 13 January 1596 – 27 April 1656) was a Dutch landscape painter.
