Aert Van Der Neer

AERT VAN DER NEER (Gorcum, 1603 - Amsterdam 1677)
"Night landscape".
Oil on panel.
Signed.
Size: 37'5 x 32 cm; 56 x 50 cm (frame).
In this nocturnal landscape, the sky acquires special prominence as it is crossed by the diffuse rays that radiate from the full moon, which in turn tinges the river with a silver film and imbues the nocturnal characters and the mansion with mystery. It was in the mid 1640s when Van der Neer specialized in winter scenes like the one we are dealing with, standing out in his moonlit river views. So this is his mature period, when the Flemish painter developed his own style, which, although based on the influence of Jan Van Goyen and Salomon van Ruysdael, derived in a daring and personal light treatment.
Aert van der Neer was a landscape painter of the Dutch Golden Age. As a landscape painter, he specialized in two main subjects: moonlit night scenes, of which he is the most recognized master among Dutch painters; and winter landscapes with skaters, a field in which he is a leading exponent. Aertvan der Neer is first known in Gorcum, in the south of Holland, where he worked, according to his biographer Arnold Houbraken, as administrator of the Lords of Arkel near Dordrecht. In 1630 he moved to Amsterdam, where he would devote himself to painting, and where his son, the portrait and figure painter Eglon Hendrick van der Neer, was born. Neer began his career as a painter at the age of 20, after meeting the brothers Raphael and Jochem Goyertsz. His first works are understood within the genre painting approaching the style of Pieter Quast. Although, Van der Neer hardly managed to live from his art or be valued in his time, now stands out among Dutch painters, thanks to his scenes of moonlight and winter landscapes. His painting was clearly influenced by the painters of the Frankenthal school such as Alexander Keirincx, Gillisz de Hondecoeter and Roeland-Savery. This tendency is perceptible thanks to the placement of isolated figures, frozen rivers and the habit of closing the sides of his compositions with trees, bringing us back to the works of Pieter Brueghel the Elder.