drawings & watercolors
Hendrick Avercamp was a seminal Dutch painter during the Dutch Golden Age. He is celebrated as one of the earliest landscape painters of the 17th-century Dutch school, specializing in vibrant winter scenes of the Netherlands. His paintings are filled with colorful and lively depictions of people engaging in various activities against the backdrop of the Dutch winter landscape.
Educated by the Danish-born portrait painter Pieter Isaacsz, Hendrick Avercamp's work reflects a strong influence from the Flemish painting tradition, especially evident in the landscapes reminiscent of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. His technique of aerial perspective, where objects in the foreground are painted with richer colors than those in the distance, creates a remarkable impression of depth in his paintings.
Hendrick Avercamp's most ambitious and acclaimed work, 'Winter Landscape with Ice Skaters', painted around 1608, is a detailed panorama of human and animal activities during a harsh winter. This painting, along with others like 'Winter Landscape with a Frozen River and Figures' and 'Winter Landscape with Skates and People Playing Golf', showcase his knack for narrative, capturing various facets of 17th-century Dutch society enjoying the winter season.
Despite being mute and probably deaf, Hendrick Avercamp's keen observation skills are evident in his works, where he intricately portrays diverse classes engaging in various winter activities. He produced about a hundred paintings, many of which can be seen in the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and the Mauritshuis in The Hague. His work was also celebrated for its historical quality, providing a glimpse into the life of different societal levels in the Netherlands at that time.
For collectors and enthusiasts of art and antiques, Hendrick Avercamp's paintings offer a fascinating window into the Dutch Golden Age, with their vivid portrayal of life and activities in a winter setting. His works, characterized by meticulous detail and a cheerful narrative, remain an integral part of the conversation in the history of Dutch art.
To stay updated on the latest insights and collections related to Hendrick Avercamp's works, consider subscribing to our updates. Stay informed about new sales, exhibitions, and auction events featuring this master of Dutch winter landscapes.
Friedrich Kallmorgen was a German Impressionist painter who specialized in landscapes and cityscapes.
John Constable was an English landscape painter in the Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedham Vale, the area surrounding his home — now known as "Constable Country" — which he invested with an intensity of affection. "I should paint my own places best", he wrote to his friend John Fisher in 1821, "painting is but another word for feeling".
John Wesley was an American painter, known for idiosyncratic figurative works of eros and humor, rendered in a precise, hard-edged, deadpan style. Wesley's art largely remained true to artistic premises that he established in the 1960s: a comic-strip style of flat shapes, delicate black outline, a limited matte palette of saturated colors, and elegant, pared-down compositions. His characteristic subjects included cavorting nymphs, nudes, infants and animals, pastoral and historical scenes, and 1950s comic strip characters in humorously blasphemous, ambiguous scenarios of forbidden desire, rage or despair.
