Allart Everdingen
NetherlandsBiography of Allart van Everdingen
Allart van Everdingen (1621-1675) was a Dutch landscape painter and aquafortist, born in Alkmaar. He was a student of Roelant Savery in Utrecht and Pieter Molijn (also known as Tempesta) in Haarlem. Everdingen had a fondness for depicting mountainous landscapes with cliffs, massive boulders, gloomy pines, roaring waterfalls, and overcast skies. He drew inspiration for such images from numerous studies made during his travels to the Scandinavian Peninsula between 1604 and 1644. Occasionally, he also painted stormy seas, reflecting the inhospitable nature he encountered during his journey.
Early Career
Upon returning to his homeland, Everdingen was admitted as a master to the Guild of Saint Luke in Haarlem in 1645. He then worked in Alkmaar, Haarlem, and from 1652 until his death, in Amsterdam. His paintings, remarkable for their accurate portrayal of the wild forms of nature, often possessed majestic and melancholic atmospheres. They can be found in many public museums and private collections. The Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg, for example, houses three of his works (two landscapes in Norway and "The Mouth of the Scheldt River"). Additionally, the Berlin Museum has three, the Dresden Gallery has two ("Deer Hunting by a Mountain Lake" and "The Great Waterfall"), the Louvre in Paris has one, the Munich Pinakothek has three, and the Amsterdam Museum has five, among many others.
Engravings
Everdingen's etchings, executed with a bold and skilled needle, although somewhat rough, are more diverse in terms of content than his paintings. Among these engravings, 106 depict landscapes and seascapes, while 57 are illustrations for "Reinike Fuchs" (original drawings for these illustrations are housed in the British Museum in London).
Family
Allart van Everdingen had two brothers who were also talented artists. Caesar van Everdingen (1606-1679), a student of Jan van den Blockhorst, focused on portrait and historical painting. Jan van Everdingen (died in 1656), a student of Caesar, specialized in still life subjects.
