Nicolaes Pietersz Berchem (Haarlem 1621/22 – 1683 Amsterdam)

As a highly prolific Dutch painter, draughtsman and etcher, he was one of the most important members of the second generation of Dutch Italianates. Haarlem-born Berchem was the son of Pieter Claesz (1596/97-1660), a painter of still-lives, and Grietgen Centen (?-1634).⁹⁹Berchem’s birth year is established by a notary act of 1661, when the artist is stated to be 39 years old; cf. P. Biesboer (ed.), Nicolaes Berchem: In the Light of Italy, exh. cat. Haarlem (Frans Hals Museum)/Zurich (Kunsthaus)/Schwerin (Staatliches Museum) 2006-07, p. 11. According to the records of the Haarlem Guild of St Luke, to which Berchem was admitted on 6 May 1642, he received his initial training from his father, starting in 1634/35.¹⁰¹⁰J.M. Kilian, ‘Nicolaes Berchem’, Grove Art Online, 2003, https://doi.org/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T008022. According to Houbraken, the young artist later studied with Jan van Goyen (1596-1656), Claes Moeyaert (1590/91-1655) and Pieter de Grebber (c. 1600-1652/53). Although none of these periods of study is documented, stylistic traits of Berchem’s work largely corroborate Houbraken’s claims.¹¹¹¹P. Biesboer (ed.), Nicolaes Berchem: In the Light of Italy, exh. cat. Haarlem (Frans Hals Museum)/Zurich (Kunsthaus)/Schwerin (Staatliches Museum) 2006-07, p. 13. Houbraken also mentions his cousin Jan Baptist Weenix (1621-1659) as Berchem’s teacher. However, given that he and Berchem were so close in age, a student–teacher relationship seems unlikely. Both, however, were apprenticed by Moeyaert, probably around the same time. Berchem was actively involved in the Haarlem guild, being appointed ‘vinder’ in 1656/57 and dean in 1658/59. Among his various pupils were Willem Romeyn (1624-1695), Johannes Glauber (1646-1726) and Dirk Maas (1656-1717).¹²¹²A. Stefes, Nicolaes Pietersz. Berchem: Die Zeichnungen, 3 vols., Bern 1997 (PhD diss., Universität Bern), vol. I, pp. 8-9; cf. RKD Artists, https://rkd.nl/explore/artists/6727; accessed 16 June 2021.

On 2 October 1646, Berchem married Catharina Claesdr de Groot (1627-1683), stepdaughter of the painter Jan Wils (1603-1666). Their son, Nicolaes (1649-1672) became an artist as well, making copies after his father’s works.¹³¹³The couple had previously lost a son, also named Nicolaes, who was baptized in 1647. Two daughters, Hillegont and Marietgen, were born in 1652 and 1657 respectively.¹⁴¹⁴P. Biesboer (ed.), Nicolaes Berchem: In the Light of Italy, exh. cat. Haarlem (Frans Hals Museum)/Zurich (Kunsthaus)/Schwerin (Staatliches Museum) 2006-07, pp. 11, 20.

Around 1650, Berchem travelled through Westphalia, presumably in the company of Jacob van Ruisdael (c. 1628/29-1682). A signed and dated drawing in the Städel Museum, Frankfurt-am-Main (inv. no. 3842 Z), records the iconic Bentheim Castle, a visual motif that Berchem integrated in two idyllic landscape paintings of 1656.¹⁵¹⁵Ibid., pp. 24-25, 42 (no. 19 and 20), 103 (fig. 44).

The longstanding assumption that Berchem visited Italy around 1642 and/or 1651-53 has been refuted by recent scholarship. Instead, it seems the works of Pieter van Laer (1599-c. 1642), Jan Both (c. 1618-1652) and Jan Asselijn (1610-1652) were enough to stimulate Berchem, enabling him to incorporate distinctive and convincing Italian elements in his paintings.¹⁶¹⁶Ibid., pp. 23-24.

The economic decline that hit Haarlem around 1660 possibly motivated Berchem’s move to Amsterdam. From 1659 onwards he collaborated with the local mapmaker and publisher Nicolaes Visscher (1618-1708).¹⁷¹⁷Ibid., p. 26. By the spring of 1670, however, the artist had returned to Haarlem, where he was appointed dean of the Guild of St Luke. In his final years, he settled again in Amsterdam, where he died on 18 February 1683. He was buried in the Westerkerk. The expansive studio estate was auctioned by his wife on 4 May 1683 (his paintings) and 7 December 1683 (his collection of drawings and prints).¹⁸¹⁸Ibid., pp. 31-35.

Work
Berchem initially worked in the tradition of his tutors Moeyaert and De Grebber, producing history paintings with scenes from the Old Testament, set in arcadian landscapes, such as Ruth and Boaz (c. 1644/45) in the Rijksmuseum (inv. no. SK-A-32) and Paul and Barnabas at Lystra (1650) in the Louvre, Paris (inv. no. RF 1945 18). Other influential contemporaries, such as Salomon de Bray (1597-1664) and Pieter Soutman (c. 1593/1601-1657) likewise left their mark on the young artist.¹⁹¹⁹Ibid., p. 14.

The competition and development of the local art market probably led Berchem to redirect his focus and to specialize in idyllic, pastoral landscapes. His paintings of the 1640s-50s show affinity with the idyllic bucolic landscapes of Cornelis Vroom (c. 1590/92-1661). Of even greater influence was the Italianate painter Pieter van Laer, who had returned to Haarlem in 1638.²⁰²⁰Ibid., pp. 18-19.
A shift in style occurred around 1650, as Berchem became increasingly influenced by Both and Asselijn. His figures in this period became more elegant, and the scenes, often idealizing rural life, are pervaded by a warm southern light. Berchem’s pictures, with the successful formula of Italianate landscapes with ruins and herdsmen, were in high demand.²¹²¹Ibid., pp. 24-25; J.M. Kilian, ‘Nicolaes Berchem’, Grove Art Online, 2003, https://doi.org/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T008022.

Beginning in 1665, the artist painted a few harbour scenes and even a couple of genre pieces, inspired by Thomas Wijck (1619-1677). He also tried his hand at typical Haarlem genres, such as battle scenes and hunting parties, in the manner of Philips Wouwerman (1619-1668).²²²²P. Biesboer (ed.), Nicolaes Berchem: In the Light of Italy, exh. cat. Haarlem (Frans Hals Museum)/Zurich (Kunsthaus)/Schwerin (Staatliches Museum) 2006-07, pp. 29.

Drawings
Berchem was a remarkably prolific draughtsman throughout his career. The large number of surviving drawings show a broad range of subjects, techniques and purpose, as well as stylistic variety, and offer valuable insights into his creative process and working methods. Numerous figure studies in chalk, often on blue or tinted paper, formed a stock of pictorial motifs related to prints or paintings. Several more highly finished sheets – in black chalk and wash, or in red chalk – can be identified as compositional studies for his paintings, and could equally have functioned as presentation drawings. An example is Granida and Daifilo in the British Museum, London (inv. no. 1910-0212-116),²³²³A. Stefes, ‘Nicolaes Berchem as a Draughtsman’ in ibid., pp. 98-99 which is related to an untraced painting of the same subject.²⁴²⁴Sale, London (Christie’s), 9 July 2003, no. 35.

Early drawings are rarely signed or dated. This changed in 1653, coinciding with a shift in subject-matter. Landscape gained greater importance in Berchem’s pictures, whereas figures were reduced to mere staffage. The dynamic lines, hasty dashes and horizontal orientation of his panoramas testify to the influence of such landscapists as Pieter de Molijn (1595-1661) and Van Goyen. The attention paid to lighting effects and volumes, visible in some of his drawings, call to mind the works of Ruisdael.²⁵²⁵Ibid., pp. 102-03.

Berchem experimented with drawing media, using charcoal soaked in linseed oil for some of his figure studies and landscapes, and red chalk for animal studies and landscapes.²⁶²⁶Ibid., pp. 112. A remarkable number of signed and dated drawings should perhaps be regarded as independent works of art, indicating that his works on paper were already sought after during his lifetime. His popularity endured far into the eighteenth century, and as a consequence, many imitators profited from this posthumous success.²⁷²⁷Ibid., p. 115.

Prints
Berchem was actively involved in the production of prints after his designs, motivated in all likelihood by the medium’s potential to spread his renown among a large (international) audience. He made around fifty-seven etchings himself, mostly within a span of ten years. Among his earliest works is a series of six cows, dating 1644. Both in subject-matter and in style (i.e. the strong lighting effects and spontaneity of line), these etchings show the influence of Pieter van Laer, as well as the young Paulus Potter (1625-1654).

Various visual motifs in Berchem’s prints of the 1640s were derived from a sketchbook that he used around 1644/45, now preserved in the British Museum, London (inv. no. 1920,0214.2.97). The same is true for his Animalia series (c. 1650), sets with three etchings each, featuring various types of cattle.

Around the mid-1650s, Berchem stopped making prints himself and started to collaborate with professional printmakers, such as Cornelis Visscher (c. 1628/29-1658), Johannes Visscher (1633-after 1692) and the Amsterdam printmaker and publisher Dancker Danckerts (1634-1666). In total, an exceptional number of 130 of his drawings and paintings were etched or engraved during his lifetime.²⁸²⁸G. Wuestman, ‘Berchem as an etcher: Effortless, accomplished and peerless’, Nicolaes Berchem: In the Light of Italy, exh. cat. Haarlem (Frans Hals Museum)/Zurich (Kunsthaus)/Schwerin (Staatliches Museum) 2006-07, pp. 119-24.

Saskia van Altena, 2021

References
C. de Bie, Het gulden cabinet vande edele vry schilder-const, Antwerp 1661-62, p. 385; A. Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen, 3 vols., Amsterdam 1718-21, II (1719), pp. 109–14; J. Smith, A Catalogue raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters, 8 vols., London 1829, V, pp. 1–111 (Suppl., IX [1842], pp. 593–619); C. Hofstede de Groot (ed.), Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke der hervorragenden holländischen Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts, 10 vols., Esslingen 1907-28, IX (1926) pp. 51–292; I. von Sick, Nicolaes Berchem: Ein Vorläufer des Rokoko, Berlin 1930 (Kunstwissenschaftlichen Studien, vol. 5); F.W.H. Hollstein et al., Dutch and Flemish Etchings, Engravings and Woodcuts, c. 1450-1700, 72 vols., Amsterdam and elsewhere 1947-2010, I (1949), pp. 249-80; E. Schaar, ‘Berchem und Begeijn’, Oud Holland 69 (1954), no. 4, pp. 241-45; E. Schaar, ‘Zu den Berchem-Zeichnungen in den Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts zu Brüssel’, Bulletin des Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts 5 (1956), pp. 209-20; E. Schaar, ‘Zeichnungen Berchems zu Landkarten’, Oud-Holland, 71 (1956), pp. 239–43; E. Schaar, Studien zu Nicolaes Berchem, Cologne, 1958 (PhD diss., Universität zu Köln); A. Blankert et al., Nederlandse 17e eeuwse italianiserende landschapschilders, exh. cat. Utrecht (Centraal Museum) 1965, pp. 147-71; P.C. Sutton et al., Masters of 17th-century Dutch Landscape Painting, exh. cat. Amsterdam (Rijksmuseum)/Boston (Museum of Fine Arts)/Philadelphia (Museum of Art) 1987-88, pp. 262–68; S.K. Bennett, ‘Nine Religious Drawings by Nicolaes Berchem: Designs to Ornament Maps in a 1669 Bible’, The Hoogsteder-Naumann Mercury 13/14 (1992), pp. 60-73; A. Stefes, Nicolaes Pietersz. Berchem: Die Zeichnungen, 3 vols., Bern 1997 (PhD diss., Universität Bern); A. Stefes, ‘Berchem und Lairesse: Zwei neu entdeckte Zeichnungen als mögliches Bindeglied’, Delineavit et Sculpsit 25 (2002), pp. 17-25; J.M. Kilian, ‘Nicolaes Berchem’, Grove Art Online, 2003, https://doi.org/10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.T008022; A. Stefes, ‘Anmerkungen zu den Montfoort-Zeichnungen Nicolaes Berchems’, Delineavit et Sculpsit 31 (2007), pp. 37-42; RKD artists https://rkd.nl/artists/6727