Aert van der Neer

[1] According to Arnold Houbraken, he worked as a steward to the lords of Arkel, which would account for the absence of any pictures dating from his early years.

Though Amsterdam appears to have been constantly Van Der Neer's domicile, his pictures tell that he was well acquainted with the canals and woods about Haarlem and Leiden, and with the reaches of the Meuse and Rhine.

There are landscapes in the collections of the dukes of Bedford and Westminster, in which Cuyp has represented either the frozen Maes with fishermen packing herrings, or the moon reflecting its light on the river's placid waters.

In the National Gallery, London picture Cuyp signs his name on the pail of a milkmaid, whose figure and red skirt he has painted with light effectiveness near the edge of Van Der Neer's landscape.

Again, a couple of fishermen with a dog, and a sportsman creeping up to surprise some ducks, are Cuyp's in a capital Van Der Neer at the Staedel Institute in Frankfurt.

His peculiar skill is shown in realizing translucence which allows objects even distant to appear in the darkness with varieties of warm brown and steel greys.

Another of his fancies is to paint frozen water, and his daylight icescapes with golfers, sleighers, and fishermen are as numerous as his moonlights.