Hercules Segers

Hercules Segers (1589/90-c.1640) was one of the most unusual artists of the Dutch Golden Age. His favourite subject was imaginary mountainous landscapes. Segers became known for his print paintings: coloured prints and prints on canvas. Few of his paintings have survived, only eleven in all. Of his 54 surviving etchings, 183 impressions exist, each differently finished. Born into a Flemish immigrant family in Haarlem, Segers was apprenticed to Gilles van Coninxloo in Amsterdam and developed his own style within the Flemish landscape tradition. His work was extremely popular in the 17th century. It influenced Rembrandt for example, who owned eight of his works. Stadholder Frederik Hendrik and the Danish king also acquired works for their collections. Segers lived in Haarlem, Leiden, Amsterdam, Utrecht and The Hague, where he died.