“Art is to console those who are broken by life.”
This quote is by none other than the famous Dutch artist, Vincent van Gogh!
When you look at the list of famous artists of all times, you will come across a lot of Netherland painters.
Dutch artists have contributed so much to the art community, especially during the Dutch Golden Age and the periods after that.
What is the Dutch Golden Age, you may wonder?
Roughly from the years 1575 to 1675, an era in the history of the Netherlands, where everything flourished!
From science to trading, military services to art, the Dutch were excelling all over the world.
This was the time when the world witnessed some fine talents emerging from the Dutch.
One of the most fascinating things about Dutch artists is that they have contributed and been associated with many art movements across time periods.
Renaissance, Baroque, The Golden Age, Realism, Impressionism, Expressionism, you name it— you’ll definitely find a Dutch painter there!
Now we have an idea of how important a role did each one of these dutch painters contribute to the art community across the globe!
I have curated a list of Dutch painters which we will be moving onto with no further ado!
Suggested Read: Deconstruction Dutch Artworks
Table of contents
Jan van Eyck
The first from our list of famous Dutch artists is an Early Netherlandish painter, Jan van Eyck.
He was also actively involved in other art movements like Northern Renaissance and Flemish Primitives!
His most famous work is the Ghent Altarpiece, which is one of the most magnificent medieval paintings to this day and for this he was one of the first Dutch artists to be recognized in the art community!
His brilliancy was showcased in the Early Netherlandish era and played a vital role in bringing traction to Dutch artworks!
Apart from that, he served as a royal court painter and his career years went with flying colors!
Hieronymus Bosch
This Dutch artist is again popular for his contributions in the eras, Early Netherlandish, Northern Renaissance, and Flemish Primitives!
The paintings of Hieronymus Bosch have the ability to lure us into the themes and imagery that are psychological, spiritual, and religious!
He is brilliant at bringing out dark themes, and at the same time, being precise on the details!
Because of his unique style, it was hard to pinpoint which art movement he belonged to .
This is because this Dutch artist’s work would have elements of different art movements.
Early Netherlandish was easy to notice, but then his artworks also started depicting Gothicism.
He was an artist with a vast range of creativity, and one of his most popular works is The Garden of Earthly Delights (1510)!
Rembrandt van Rijn
Rembrandt van Rijn is one of the 17th century famous Dutch artists, whose work was contributed during the Dutch Golden Age!
One cannot think of the Dutch Golden Era or Baroque period without thinking of Rembrandt!
His artistic contributions opened up a new perspective among artists and art admirers.
Having gone through immense loss of losing his three children and wife, all in the span of less than 10 years, Rembrandt’s personal life was not the most blooming.
The only surviving member of his family was his son, Titus, who took care of him till his Death.
The paintings of Rembrandt, especially The Night watch, have so much depth and hidden meaning in them, which was inspired by his own life!
Judith Leyster
This female painter was one of the famous Dutch artists during the Golden Age.
Judith Leyster is known to have been a pioneer during her period and is popular for her unique style of painting!
Her paintings showcased the daily domestic experiences of women and created jovial scenes of entertainment in her Baroque paintings.
She worked with several other male Netherlands painters and there were times when her work had even gone unnoticed, until museums found her signature on paintings.
Her paintings even depict standing against the male bias that she experienced and witnessed around her!
One of this Dutch painter’s best works is her self-portrait itself where she has done an excellent job in creating an intimate interaction with the audience.
Johannes Vermeer
Johannes Vermeer is undoubtedly one of the most famous Dutch artists to have graced this world.
This 17th century Dutch artist was also greatly involved in Dutch Golden Age art and the Baroque art period..
Vermeer was self taught and loved using deep, vibrant colors for his artworks!
He was known for his excellence in the way he played with light in his artwork, and his female subjects, some of whom were quite mysterious too.
One such famous painting of Vermeer is the Girl With A Pearl Earring, which attracted a lot of awe and discussion!
Although there have been speculations nobody knows of this beautiful female subject in the painting.
His personal life was rather mysterious, too.
According to records, he had fathered 15 children and died due to financial stress.
Anton Mauve
Born in 1838, this famous Dutch artist grew up to be a landscape painter!
Anton Mauve’s specialty was that he’d incorporate realism into his landscape art, with animals and peasants as his common subjects.
He was someone who would prefer emotions rather than colors.
His principle while making artwork was that everything needs to be painted as the artist perceives it.
Therefore, Mauve’s artwork was definitely aligned with realism, but there was a certain sense of freestyle poetic freedom that he incorporated into them!
Fun fact: Mauve was also Vincent van Gogh’s cousin-in-law!
Suggested Read: Famous Collage Artists
George Hendrik Breitner
The next one from our list of famous Dutch Artists is George Hendrik Breitner, from Rotterdam!
This Dutch painter was greatly involved with the Amsterdam Impressionist movement and was brilliant while creating cityscapes.
His mentor was August Allebe, who heavily influenced his art and encouraged him to venture into his artistic thoughts!
He was a close friend of Vincent Van Gogh and they would spend their time together bustling through the city and painting urban sceneries.
Even though Breitner was a realist, he noticed how fast the city just moved in front of his eyes.
He knew that he had to work his brush strokes with the speed of the city!
Suggested Read: Famous German Artists
Vincent van Gogh
Among the famous Dutch artists, we come to the maestro himself— Vincent Van Gogh!
Did you know that Van Gogh started his artistic ventures because of his brother, Theo?
Famous Dutch artist, Van Gogh, did not have any prior training with art, but he had a curious and explorative soul who was ready to do art!
He got some training in Brussels and just indulged in painting for years and years, irrespective of where he was.
Unfortunately, in 1888, he suffered from a mental breakdown, which led him to mutilate his own ear.
That did not stop him from painting; the Dutch artist continued to paint even when he was at the St. Paul Asylum.
It is from here he creates the legendary painting, The Starry Night which is to this date celebrated by many!
Piet Mondrian
This list of famous Dutch artists would be incomplete without Piet Mondrian!
From Hague School, this Netherlands painter received initial training in landscape art.
But Mondrian was not just a landscape artist.
What fascinated him were geometric shapes, and he was soon lured into Cubism!
He was greatly involved in the theory of Neoplasticism and incorporated it into his paintings.
He was always found experimenting with lines and color to test Neoplasticism and how it works.
One of his most famous paintings is “Composition with Red, Yellow and Blue (1942)!
Willem De Kooning
Willem De Kooning is not just a famous Dutch artist, but he is also an abstract artist who was associated with Expressionism!
This Netherlands painter received education that provided knowledge in both applied and fine arts.
It was when he moved to New York that he finally found his love for Abstract Expressionism.
His art methods included subconscious composition, where he believed that one should just flow with their art on canvas without thinking too much!
He believed in artists letting themselves be free in the painting they create, without any political or social message, but art for the sake of art!
Karel Appel
The last Netherlands painter on our list is Karel Appel.
Appel was the co-founder of the northern European Expressionist group COBRA.
Apart from that, he was an excellent sculptor and graphic artist!
This Dutch painter would travel from one city to another and produce art.
His art was best known for the bright, vibrant hues and paintings that implied semi abstract art!
Author Says Hi!
Hallo Readers!
Goedendag to you!
I hope you enjoyed reading today’s blog and found it interesting.
The Netherlands really did gift the world with some talented gems.
I would love to hear from you, so feel free to message me in the comments below!
Until the next one
Cheers xx
Frequently Asked Questions
Rembrandt van Rijn, Johannes Vermeer, Frans Hals, and Anstburt are some of the ancient Dutch artists.
Rembrandt van Rijn is known to be the greatest Dutch painter who contributed a lot during the Dutch Golden Age!
Johannes Vermeer, was a Dutch painter from the 17th century who was known to be the Dutch master painter. His brilliance was shown in the way he captured everyday life through his art.
