NB the exhibition has been extended until 8 May 2022.

Allart van Everdingen was born in Alkmaar, but lived in Haarlem and Amsterdam for most of his life. He was the younger brother of painter Caesar van Everdingen (1616/1617-1678), to whom Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar devoted a successful exhibition in 2016-2017. To mark the four hundredth anniversary of the birth of this innovative artist, Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar is staging the first retrospective of his diverse oeuvre.

In 1644 Allart van Everdingen traveled through Norway. An inspiring experience, decisive for his career. He subsequently made countless paintings, drawings and etchings of rugged landscapes with waterfalls, log cabins and spruce trees. These at first glance realistic snapshots of Norwegian nature, on closer inspection, turn out to be artistic constructions, conceived and executed in the workshop. Van Everdingen created a new genre in Dutch art, which was eagerly sought after and imitated. Moreover, Allart’s impressive mountain views were an important source of inspiration for the painters of the Romantic era in the nineteenth century.

The aim of the exhibition is to introduce the full range of Allart van Everdingen’s body of work to the national and international public for the first time. The focus will not be solely on the Scandinavian landscapes. A carefully chosen selection of masterpieces will showcase the artist’s versatility and the diversity and quality of his work.

The exhibition and accompanying catalogue will be compiled by our curator Dr. Christi Klinkert, working closely with drawings specialist Dr. Yvonne Bleyerveld (Netherlands Institute for Art History – RKD) and Dr. Erik Hinterding, keeper of prints and drawings at the Rijksmuseum. Alice Davies, author of monographs on Allart’s oeuvre of paintings and drawings (2001 and 2007), and Frits Duparc, former director of the Mauritshuis, are providing help and advice during all the preparatory phases.

Information from the museum, 6 September 2021