Esaias van de Velde (1587-1630)The father of landscape painter Esaias van de Velde was a protestant Fleming who fled to Amsterdam in 1585. Esaias probably learned to paint from his father and from the Flemish Van Coninxloo and , both living in Amsterdam. Between 1609 and 1618 Van de Velde lived in Haarlem, where his pupils included Jan van Goyen. He subsequently moved to The Hague, where he remained until his death. Van de Velde painted, drew and etchedEtchingAn etching is in fact a print of a design etched into a metal plate. This is obtained as follows. A smooth metal plate (usually copper) is coated with etching-ground, an acid-resistant mixture of wax, resin and asphalt. The design is scratched into this coating with a needle, exposing the metal beneath. The plate is then immersed in an acid bath, in which the mordant bites into the exposed metal, etching in the lines of the design. The finished plate is then coated with ink, which fills the lines. By pressing the plate onto a surface, the design is transferred. A single plate can be used for between 50 and 200 prints. The earliest etching in existence dates from 1513. military scenes, genre piecesGenreA 'genre' is a theme in painting. Up to the 16th century, most paintings featured religious subjects. Around 1600 this started to change. Artists began specialising in a particular subject. These new 'genres' were usually not or only partly religious. They included, for example, landscape, still life, architectural painting and history painting. These had long been included in paintings as elements of a composition, but never as the central theme. There is also a genre known as 'genre' painting. This category features works in which people are depicted in their everyday environment. and particularly landscapes. He was a pioneer in the depiction of the Dutch landscape. And he would often be asked by other artists to 'staffage' their landscapes: to paint in the figures. |
