View of Haarlem from the Northwest, with the Bleaching Fields in the Foreground
View of Haarlem from the Northwest, with the Bleaching Fields in the Foreground (c. 1670s) is an oil on canvas painting by the Dutch landscape painter Jacob van Ruisdael. It is an example of Dutch Golden Age painting and is now in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.

This painting was documented by Hofstede de Groot in 1911, who wrote; "55. VIEW OF HAARLEM, WITH BLEACHING-GROUNDS IN FRONT. Sm. Suppl. 52. In the immediate foreground is part of the hill, near Overveen, from which one views the broad plain. Below, to the left, is a row of five gabled cottages roofed with red tiles; on the meadow to the right long pieces of linen are spread out to bleach. The sun shines on the houses and part of the bleaching-grounds, but the shadow of a passing cloud lies on the edge of them. There is also a patch of light in the right middle distance, behind a farm hidden amid trees. At the back are the roofs and church towers of Haarlem, partly illumined by sunlight. The clouds are high in the sky. Signed in full on the left at foot; canvas, 17 inches by 11 1/2 inches. In the collection of Baron van Nagell van Ampsen, The Hague, 1842 (Sm.). 
Sale. A. W. C. Baron Nagell van Ampsen, The Hague, September 5, 1851, No. 54 (1750 florins, Roos). In the collection of L. Dupper, Amsterdam; bequeathed in 1870 to the Rijksmuseum.  In the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, Dupper bequest, 1910 catalogue, No. 2071."

This scene is very similar to other large panorama paintings (often referred to as Haerlempjes today) that Ruisdael made of Haarlem in this period and these often served as inspiration for later painters of landscape. It is taken from the same perspective from a high dune in Bloemendaal as several other Ruisdael paintings.

See also
 List of paintings by Jacob van Ruisdael

References

 Volume IV translated from the German original. A catalogue raisonné of the works of the most eminent Dutch painters of the seventeenth century based on the work of John Smith. Translation in English and edited by Edward G. Hawke and assisted by Kurt Freise by Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis, 1863-1930; Smith, John, dealer in pictures, London, 1912
 SK-A-351 painting record on museum website

1670s paintings
Paintings by Jacob van Ruisdael
Paintings in the Rijksmuseum
Landscape paintings
Haarlem in art