Hendrick Avercamp - Winter Landscape with Skaters
There are some landscape paintings which open our world up with a beautiful expansive vista - and others which seem to demand us in closer, to marvel at all the tiny details.
But with Hendrick Avercamp’s work - the artist achieves both of these things at the same time.
On first glance, we see the gentle mist and bright clean air of a small village in Winter - as if looking down over the idyll of a lost time.
And of course, we can immediately notice similarities with the work of Pieter Brueghel the Elder, who had painted his own winter masterpiece more than a century before.
But make no mistake, Hendrick Avercamp is very much his own man too.
And when we zoom in closer to all the little characters and narratives he has hidden in this work - we come to appreciate his remarkable talent as both artist and storyteller.
In this one little corner from the left hand side of the work alone - there are endless details we could mention.
From the woman at her doorstep, giving food to the workers - to the birds squawking in the treetops, and the little dog running along the snow - to the child at the far left, who has just dipped their hand in the icy water and is now running back to their parent in tears over the shock.
Truly it would require an entire book for us to explore every character and every possible narrative here - not to mention the astonishing microscopic details of those bricks on the buildings, or the branches on the trees, or the footprints on the snow covered floor.
And remember, this is just one corner of the entire work!
Elsewhere, there is even more for us to see; from handsome couples and lovers taking a stroll along the ice - to shady dealers exchanging money - to families at leisure, and friends playing ice hockey - to the poor peasants diligently pressing on with their work in spite of the ice.
And in the little detail below, you may also notice one of the touches of Hendrick’s slightly crude 17th century humour too - with the man casually urinating up against a tree.
Franky, I could spend the entire day pointing out many more little highlights and notable characters in this painting (including those in the distant background, who are painted with little more than a single hair of a brush, yet still have their own unique personality!).
But for now, I want to leave the rest of this image with you all instead.
Though a computer or phone screen will never be quite as fun as leaning in closer and squinting at the real painting - still, the benefit here today is that we have the chance to zoom in as far as our photo will allow!
So if you have the time today, I hope you will all enjoy spending a little longer with Hendrick’s little details. And of course, if you happen to spot a character or a narrative you particularly like . . . please do share it with everyone in the comments!
It will be really fun to see just how many different things we can find together in this painting!
P.s.
One last reminder. On 20th December, the Art Every Day Quiz will be available to purchase as a digital download.
Including 150 questions ranging from beginner to expert (along with a few accompanying artworks too) - it is a quiz which I hope will have something for everyone!
So please do keep an eye out for the official launch email this weekend.
Thanks. I enjoyed looking at Avercamp’s skating scenes earlier this month at the Rijksmuseum. You have inspired me to try a write up as well.
I am very much enjoying Art Every Day. The Avercamp piece reminded me also of a painting called The Archer by a Flemish artist named Tenier. He too painted a man urinating---against a building rather than a tree. This must have been a trope these Northern European painters enjoyed....adolescent male humor, perhaps? Here is the link to the image from the museum where I volunteer in Indianapolis. https://collections.discovernewfields.org/art/artwork/56821