Hendrick Avercamp

Hendrick Avercamp (1585–1634) was the first Dutch artist to specialize in winter landscapes. Born in Amsterdam and raised in Kampen after his father opened an apothecary there, he was deaf and mute from birth, known locally as "de Stomme" (the Mute). His mother's will expressed concern for her "mute and miserable" eldest son. He studied with Danish portrait painter Pieter Isaacks and perhaps David Vinckboons, whose Flemish influence, particularly that of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, shaped his approach to crowded outdoor scenes.

Avercamp painted during the Little Ice Age, when two-thirds of Dutch winters between 1600 and 1700 were "cold" to "very severe." The harshest occurred between 1600 and 1625, exactly when he produced his winter landscapes. His masterpiece, Winter Landscape with Ice Skaters, contains over two hundred figures forming a near-encyclopedic catalog of Dutch Golden Age winter life: nobles, peasants, golfers on ice, horse-drawn sleighs, children with sleds, even a man relieving himself in the corner.

His observation was precise despite (or perhaps because of) his deafness. Unable to hear conversation, he watched intently. His technique used aerial perspective, with rich colors in front gradually fading to pale tones in the distance. He produced around one hundred paintings, all variations on his frozen theme. He never married and lived his entire adult life in Kampen, where he died in 1634. His nephew Barent Avercamp continued his style. Major works are at the Rijksmuseum, Mauritshuis, and National Gallery.