1956.24.187
Laundresses and Cowherds
Artist
Nicolaes (Claes) Pietersz. Berchem (Nicolaes Berchem the Elder)
(Haarlem, 1620 - 1683, Amsterdam)
Title
Laundresses and Cowherds
Creation Date
1620-1683
Century
17th century
Dimensions
10 1/4 in. x 14 3/8 in. (26.04 cm. x 36.51 cm.)
Object Type
drawing
Creation Place
Europe, Netherlands
Medium and Support
pen and brown ink and brown wash with traces of white heightening on paper
Credit Line
Gift of Miss Susan Dwight Bliss
Copyright
Public Domain
Accession Number
1956.24.187
Nicolaes Berchem is one of the most well-known and productive of the Dutch Italianate landscape painters of the seventeenth century. First taught by his father, Pieter Claesz (1597/98--1660), Berchem joined the Haarlem Guild of Saint Luke in 1642. He is thought to have traveled to Italy but may have just as easily gained inspiration in the Netherlands from the work of the Dutch painters Pieter van Laer (1599--ca. 1642), Jan Both (ca. 1618--1652), and Jan Asselijn (ca. 1610--1652). “Laundresses and Cowherds” demonstrates Berchem’s penchant for idealized pastoral scenes that create a convincing synthesis of Dutch and Italian traditions. A soft light bathes the figures and their livestock in the foreground; classical ruins and mountainous terrain augment the background. Blending together both familiar and foreign beauty, it is no wonder Berchem’s work was highly sought-after in the Netherlands throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
