Avenue of Oaks in Late Summer

A country lane runs between a double row of oaks, and three big old trees take up most of the canvas. The museum thinks the spot is probably near Oosterbeek, the wooded village outside Arnhem where the painter lived after her marriage. Only when you look closely do you find a woman walking on the path, small under the trees. The Hague School painters she worked among cared above all for the air and light of a place, and late summer suited that, the leaves heavy and the light already lower. There is no exact date, only the last 20 years of her working life. The Rijksmuseum bought the picture in October 1900, the year she died.