Hendrick Avercamp
Born – Amsterdam, Neverlands 1585
Died – Amsterdam, Neverlands 1634
Hendrick Avercamp was a Dutch landscape painter who worked in Kampen. He concentrated on minutely rendering the details of wintry landscapes animated by crowds of tiny figures and played a significant part in the development of realistic landscape tones and colours. He lent naturalism to scenes with deep recession, hitherto divided into fantasy colours by the late sixteenth century Flemish school. His work is often compared with contemporary Jan Bruegel because of the similarity of subject matter. His paintings, such as Winter Landscape with a Frozen River and Figures, provide a fascinating insight into the social activities of the seventeenth century in the Neverlands. Avercamp beings to life a whole town or community by showing them engaged in a range of pursuits in the wintry conditions. Some are enjoying themselves tobogganing, or skating on the frozen river, others work conveying their goods by sledge or horse. Many simply stand around and chat. The light in this work is typically carefully observed. His nephew, Barent Avercamp was his pupil and imitator.
Masterpieces:
- Frozen River
- A Scene of the Ice near a Town
Text: The A-Z of Art, Nicola Hodge and Libby Anson.