Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem
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Nicolaes Pieterszoon Berchem (1 October 1620 - 18 February 1683) was a popular and prolific Dutch painter.
Born in Haarlem, he received instruction from his father, Pieter Claesz, and from the painters Jan Van Goyen and Jan Wils, among others. It is not known why he called himself Berchem (or Berighem, and other variants). In 1642 he traveled to Italy with fellow painter Jan Baptist Weenix and remained there about three years, making genre and nature studies. His whereabouts are not certain after the Italian journey, but it appears that he had returned to Haarlem by 1646. He moved to Amsterdam in 1677 and died there in 1683.
His pictures, of which he produced an immense number (Hofstede de Groot claimed around 850, although many are misattributed), were in great demand, as were also his etchings and drawings. His landscapes, often painted in the Italian style of idealized rural scenes, are highly esteemed; and many of them have been finely engraved by Jan Visscher. His finest pictures are at the Rijksmuseum and at the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg.
Berchem also painted the human and animal figures in some works of other artists, including Allaert van Everdingen, Jan Hackaert, Meindert Hobbema, Jacob van Ruisdael, and Willem Schellinks.
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This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
