Eglon van der Neer

(Amsterdam 1634/36 – 1703Düsseldorf)

How To CiteBakker, Piet. "Eglon van der Neer." In The Leiden Collection Catalogue. Edited by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr.
New York, 2017.
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Eglon van der Neer was born in Amsterdam around 1635. His parents were the landscape artist Aert vander Neer (ca. 1603–77) and Lysbeth Goverts (1608–ca. 1662).[1] According to Houbraken, Eglon, “who inhis youth [was] inclined toward art, after his father’s example, developed a fondness for painting
pictures.”[2] Hence, his father decided to allow him to train with Jacob van Loo (1614–70), a leading portrait
and genre painter of the day who was placed on a par with Rembrandt van Rijn, Ferdinand Bol, andGovaert Flinck by the poet Jan Vos in his 1654 Zeege der Schilderkunst.[3]After his apprenticeship, Eglon, barely nineteen years old, moved to France where he worked for CountFriedrich von Dohna (1621–88), the Dutch governor of the Principality of Orange.[4] He returned to theDutch Republic in 1658 and the following year married Maria Wagensvelt, whose father, AernoutWagensvelt, was a prosperous notary and secretary at the court of law in Schieland. After their wedding thecouple settled in Amsterdam. From then on Eglon specialized in elegant conversation pieces in the style ofGabriel Metsu (1629–67) and Pieter de Hooch (1629–84) and, as Houbraken noted, “he also often painted
groups in modern dress in the style of Ter Borch, sometimes somewhat differently, since he was inclined tovariety.”[5]In 1663 Van der Neer moved to Rotterdam, where he was soon embroiled in a long and costly court caseover his father-in-law’s estate. He became a highly sought-after artist in the city on the Maas River and was
fairly well off. Yet, in those years his comfortable circumstances also depended in part on the annualinterest generated by an inheritance of a wealthy aunt of his wife. In 1670 he paid his dues to the artists’society Confrérie Pictura in The Hague, probably for no other reason than to be able to sell his work in thecourt capital, for he continued to live in Rotterdam.[6]Adriaen van der Werff (1659–1722) was his pupil in Rotterdam between 1671 and 1675. Van der Werff
regularly accompanied Van der Neer when he visited Leiden to see his good friend Frans van Mieris theElder (1635–81), whom he had probably known since 1658. This contact may have helped Van der Neer
receive the commission to portray Justus Ghys (1638–80), a wealthy Leiden textile merchant, and his wife,
Jaquemijntje le Pla.[7] His father’s death in 1677 took Van der Neer back to Amsterdam, but only briefly, for© 2017 The Leiden Collection

Eglon van der Neer
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barely a month later his own wife died. He visited Amsterdam again the following year, this time to witness
the marriage of Willem van Aelst (1627–after 1687), the renowned still-life painter who was clearly a closefriend.
Probably spurred by the crisis in the art market in the Dutch Republic, in the late 1670s Van der Neer
traveled regularly to Brussels, which, by this time, had outstripped Antwerp as the artistic center in theSouthern Netherlands.[8] He settled there in 1680 and in that same year married Marie du Chastel(1652–92). She was a miniaturist with excellent connections in the highest Brussels circles who had worked
at the Danish court before she met Van der Neer. His new domicile brought him not only new clients, butalso a new artistic direction, for he now concentrated exclusively on landscapes and history paintings. Thisrigorous break with the past was also expressed in his conversion to Catholicism.
In 1687 King Charles II of Spain appointed Van der Neer as court painter, for which he received an annualallowance. According to Houbraken, this prestigious appointment was prompted by the artist’s portrait ofMaria Anna von Pfalz-Neuburg, the sister of Elector Palatine Johann Wilhelm and future spouse of Charles
II of Spain. Houbraken’s statement must be wrong, however, because the likeness dates from 1689.[9] Infact, Van der Neer, who never visited Spain, was in all likelihood never active as court painter; the king’sappointment was probably in recompense for outstanding payments. The portrait of Maria Anna also
remained unpaid for years, despite Johann Wilhelm’s repeated entreaties to his sister.
That the elector, a passionate art collector and great lover of Netherlandish painting, was willing to act on
Van der Neer’s behalf illustrates the artist’s exceptional position. Johann Wilhelm presented the painter witha medal of honor on a chain when the artist visited him in Düsseldorf, probably in late 1695. Van der Neer
depicted this medal in the self-portrait he painted for Johann Wilhelm the following year.[10] In March of1697, the elector named Van der Neer “Titularhofrat” (honorary privy councilor), and in March 1698, Vander Neer accepted an appointment as the elector’s court painter. In Düsseldorf in 1697, he met and married
his third wife, Adriana Spilberg (b. 1656), the daughter of the previous court painter Johannes Spilberg,
who had died in 1690.[11] The marriage was to be short-lived, for Van der Neer died in 1703, “accompanied
to his final resting place by a considerable cortège.”[12]- Piet Bakker

Endnotes
1. If not stated otherwise, the information about Eglon van der Neer is taken from Eddy
Schavemaker, Eglon van der Neer (1635/6–1703): His Life and His Work (Doornspijk, 2010).
2. “Die in zijn Jeugt aanleiding tot de Konst vond by syn vader, kreeg genegenheid tot het
schilderen van beelden.” Arnold Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche
konstschilders en schilderessen, 3 vols. (Amsterdam, 1718–21; rev. ed., The Hague, 1753;
reprint, Amsterdam, 1980), 3:172.

© 2017 The Leiden Collection

Eglon van der Neer
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3. Jan Vos, Alle de gedichten van den poëet Jan Vos … (Amsterdam, 1662), 125–41, esp. 140.
See also the biography of Jacob van Loo in this catalogue.
4. This information is from Houbraken. It is not known whether Van der Neer traveled to Orangeof his own volition—possibly en route to Italy—or had acquired this office through theintercession of an intermediary in the Dutch Republic.
5. “Hy schilderde ook veeltyds gezelschapjes op de Moderne wys gekleed als Terburg, somwyl
ook wat anders, aangezien hy tot verandering geneigt was.” Arnold Houbraken, De grooteschouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen , 3 vols. (Amsterdam, 1718–21;
rev. ed., The Hague, 1753; reprint, Amsterdam, 1980), 3:174.
6. See also Edwin Buijsen et al., Haagse Schilders in de Gouden Eeuw (The Hague, 1998),
332.
7. Both on panel, 22.5 x 16.5 cm, private collection; see Eddy Schavemaker,Eglon van der Neer(1635/6–1703): His Life and His Work (Doornspijk, 2010), nos. 33 and 34.
8. On the Dutch painters who sought employment abroad, see Horst Gerson,Ausbreitung undNachwirkung der holländischen Malerei des 17. Jahrhunderts (Haarlem, 1942; reprint,Amsterdam, 1983).
9. Arnold Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en
schilderessen, 3 vols. (Amsterdam, 1718–21; rev. ed., The Hague, 1753; reprint, Amsterdam,1980), 3:174.
10. Self-Portrait, signed and dated 1696, oil on canvas, 105 x 73.5 cm, Florence, Galleria Uffizi,inv no. 1890, no. 1872. See Eddy Schavemaker, Eglon van der Neer (1635/6–1703): His Lifeand His Work (Doornspijk, 2010), cat. no. 132.
11. Eddy Schavemaker, Eglon van der Neer (1635/6–1703): His Life and His Work (Doornspijk,2010), 32.
12. “En werd met een aanzienlyke rouwstacie ten grave geleit.” Arnold Houbraken,De grooteschouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen , 3 vols. (Amsterdam, 1718–21;rev. ed., The Hague, 1753; reprint, Amsterdam, 1980), 3:173.

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Eglon van der Neer
Page 4 of 4Houbraken, Arnold. De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders enschilderessen. 3 vols. Amsterdam, 1718–21; rev. ed., The Hague, 1753; reprint,Amsterdam, 1980, 3:172–75.
De Vries, A. D. and De Roever, N. “Biografische aanteekingen.” Oud Holland 3 (1885): 234.
Gaehtgens, Barbara. Adriaen van der Werff, 1659–1722. Munich, 1987.
Hecht, Peter. De Hollandse fijnschilders: van Gerard Dou tot Adriaen van der Werff. Exh.
cat. Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum. Maarssen/’s-Gravenhage, 1989, 129–54.
Schadee, Nora ed. Rotterdamse Meesters uit de Gouden Eeuw. Exh. cat. Rotterdam,Historisch Museum. Zwolle, 1994, 290.
Buijsen, Edwin et al. Haagse Schilders in de Gouden Eeuw. The Hague, 1998, 332.
Prins, Yvonne. “Een familie van kunstenaars en belastingpachters: De kunstschilders Aerten Eglon van der Neer en hun verwanten.” Jaarboek Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie 54(2000): 189–253.
Schavemaker,Eddy.

EglonvanderNeer(1635/6–1703):

HisLifeandHisWork. Doornspijk, 2010.

© 2017 The Leiden Collection