Pieter Dircksz. van Santvoort

The talented landscape painter Pieter Dircksz. Van Santvoort was born around 1604 in Amsterdam. However, due in part to his untimely death at a rather young age in 1635, his work - highly praised in his day - became somewhat neglected; his reputation was only restored in the mid-20th century. From this time onwards, his work has featured in major exhibitions on Dutch landscape paintings, and his place in the early development of landscape painting has become firmly established.

Only fifteen paintings and about thirty-two drawings can be firmly attributed to Pieter van Santvoort. No documents have survived which might shed light on his life and career. Thus we do not know to whom he was apprenticed, although we can surmise that he was a member of the Amsterdam Guild of St. Luke, since his father and brother Dirck Dircksz. (1610-80) both occupied leading positions in that organisation.

The paintings of Pieter van Santvoort, all depicting mountains, hills, forest and winter scenes, show that he was a skilled painter. These works, most of which are not signed or dated, hang in museums and private collections around the world. The earliest paintings known to be by Van Santvoort date from 1625. His last known painting dates from 1631.

In this landscape the trees are placed in rows as the Flemish painters tended to do, determining the rhythm of the composition. At the same time the low horizon and monochrome graduations of green, brown and yellow tie the compositon together. Along with the fast brushwork in the farm, fence and forest path, they echo developments in Haarlem tonal landscape, and underscore Van Santvoort’s position in the vanguard of a new style.

The paintings and drawings of Pieter Dircksz. Van Santvoort demonstrate his active role in the transition between traditional imaginary Flemish mountain scenes and the early 17th-century flat landscapes of the Northern Netherlands. Though brief, his fourteen-year career was one of innovation and achievement. It is to be hoped that more works by this talented artist will surface in the years to come, works which have so far remained anonymous or have been incorrectly attributed to other artists.

We are grateful to Drs Kati E. Wieg for her input to this catalogue entry; her monographic master thesis on the artist, from the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam, dates from 1991.