Eglon van der Neer (1635/36-1703): his life and his work

Abstract

Eglon van der Neer (1635/1636-1703) was highly successful in his own lifetime. The acclaim endured throughout the eighteenth century, but in the nineteenth century he fell from favour. Nowadays one mainly finds him listed as a "minor master". This is the first attempt to give a full account of his life and work, and to restore him to his rightful place in the pantheon of Dutch art. This book contains numerous new insights and much previously unpublished information. There are ten brief chapters. One is a new biography, and in two others Van der Neer's inspirational sources are identified and his influence on his one and only pupil, Adriaen van der Werff, is analysed. His achievements in the genres that he practised are each dealt with in a separate chapter. The final chapter surveys three centuries of critical appraisal of his work. The chapters are complemented with appendices containing archival documents and early printed sources. The book concludes with a catalogue raisonné listing 150 works accepted by the author.