Hendrick Avercamp (1585–1634) has been described as “the undisputed master of winter landscapes of the Dutch Golden Age.” “Avercamp” is not exactly a household word on this side of the Atlantic, although I suspect that many museum visitors who wouldn’t recognize his name have admired his luminous outdoor scenes full of small, agile figures. In his native Netherlands, by contrast, he is a celebrated artist with an eager and enthusiastic following, today as in his lifetime. (That multiple versions of some Avercamps exist, along with pictures made by other painters in his style, indicate that his work was sought after.) Is a taste for Avercamp a particularly Dutch attribute?

It’s tempting to assume so, since his best loved and often best pictures—images of crowds of skaters—distill and concentrate the dizzy rapture that present-day Netherlanders...

 

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