The fish seller

Gerrit Battem or Gerard van Battum (ca. 1636 - October 24, 1684 (buried)) was a Dutch landscape painter.

Biography

Houbraken mentions drawings by Battem in the house of his patron Jonas van Witsen of Amsterdam, who bought them for 1300 guilders along with colored drawings by Adriaen van Ostade in the 1670s[1]

According to the RKD, he was the son of the painter Gerrit Batton and he was the stepson of Jacob de Villeers.[2] His mother Elisabeth Furnerius was probably the aunt of the painter Abraham Furnerius with whom he made a trip along the Rhine in 1650-1654.[2]

Battem was born and died in Rotterdam, where he was mostly active. For three years he worked in Utrecht, and his trip along the Rhine may have been a large inspiration for his topics. He painted perspective views, mountainous scenery, with shepherds, robbers, etc. therein, as well as winter scenes. He painted at the same time as Snellings, but his style of painting is broader and bolder. In the 1670s he is said to have also painted figures in Jacob van Ruisdael's landscapes, though some doubt this.[2]

Of greater value than the pictures of this artist are his designs, which are altogether superior, and bought dearly to adorn the first-rate collections.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Gerrit van Battem.

References

  1. ↑ (in Dutch) Adriaan en Izaak van Ostade Biography in De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen (1718) by Arnold Houbraken, courtesy of the Digital library for Dutch literature
  2. 1 2 3 Gerrit Battem in the RKD
  • Rose, Hugh James (1857). "Bathem or Battem or Battum, Gerard van". A New General Biographical Dictionary. Vol. 3 BAH–BEE. London: B. Fellowes et al. pp. 345–346.
  • 2 artworks by or after Gerrit Battem at the Art UK site
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