Eglon van der Neer

(Amsterdam 1634/36 – 1703 Düsseldorf)

How to cite
Bakker, Piet. “Eglon van der Neer” (2017). In The Leiden Collection Catalogue, 3rd ed. Edited by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr.
and Lara Yeager-Crasselt. New York, 2020–23. https://www.theleidencollection.com/archive/ (archived December2023).
A PDF of every version of this biography is available in this Online Catalogue's Archive, and the Archive is managed bya permanent URL. New versions are added only when a substantive change to the narrative occurs.

Eglon van der Neer was born in Amsterdam around 1635. His parents were the landscape artist Aert van der Neer (ca.
1603–77) and Lysbeth Goverts (1608–ca. 1662).[1] According to Arnold Houbraken, Van der Neer, “who in his 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 wasplaced on a par with Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–69), Ferdinand Bol (1616–80), and Govaert Flinck (1615–60) by the poet
Jan Vos (1612–67) in his 1654 Zeege der Schilderkunst.[3]After his apprenticeship, Van der Neer, barely nineteen years old, moved to France where he worked for Count Friedrichvon Dohna (1621–88), the Dutch governor of the Principality of Orange.[4] He returned to the Dutch Republic in 1658 andthe following year married Maria Wagensvelt (d. 1677), whose father, Aernout Wagensvelt (ca. 1599–1663), was aprosperous notary and secretary at the court of law in Schieland. After their wedding the couple settled in Amsterdam.
From then on Van der Neer specialized in elegant conversation pieces in the style of Gabriel 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 to variety.”[5]In 1663 Van der Neer moved to Rotterdam, where he was soon embroiled in a long and costly court case over his father-inlaw’s estate. He became a highly sought-after artist in the city on the Maas River and was fairly well off. Yet, in thoseyears his comfortable circumstances also depended in part on the annual interest generated by an inheritance of a wealthyaunt of his wife. In 1670 he paid his dues to the painters’ confraternity Pictura in The Hague, probably for no other reason
than to be able to sell his work in the court 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 the Elder (1635–81), whom hehad probably known since 1658. This contact may have helped Van der Neer receive the commission to portray Justus© 2024 The Leiden Collection

Eglon van der NeerPage 2 of 4

Ghys (1638–80), a wealthy Leiden textile merchant, and his wife, Jaquemijntje le Pla (1647–96?).[7] His father’s death in1677 took Van der Neer back to Amsterdam, but only briefly, for 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), therenowned still-life painter who was clearly a close friend.
Probably spurred by the crisis in the art market in the Dutch Republic, in the late 1670s Van der Neer traveled regularly toBrussels, which, by this time, had outstripped Antwerp as the artistic center in the Southern Netherlands.[8] He settled therein 1680 and in that same year married Marie du Chastel (1652–92). She was a miniaturist with excellent connections in thehighest Brussels circles who had worked at the Danish court before she met Van der Neer. His new domicile brought him
not only new clients, but also a new artistic direction, for he now concentrated exclusively on landscapes and history
paintings. This rigorous break with the past was also expressed in his conversion to Catholicism.
In 1687 King Charles II of Spain (1661–1700) 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 of Maria Anna vonPfalz-Neuburg (1667–1740), the sister of Elector Palatine Johann Wilhelm (1658–1716) and future spouse of Charles IIof Spain. Houbraken’s statement must be wrong, however, because the likeness dates from 1689.[9] In fact, Van der Neer,
who never visited Spain, was in all likelihood never active as court painter; the king’s appointment was probably inrecompense 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’sbehalf illustrates the artist’s exceptional position. Johann Wilhelm presented the painter with a 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 hepainted for Johann Wilhelm the following year.[10] In March of 1697, the elector named Van der Neer “Titularhofrat”(honorary privy councilor), and in March 1698, Van der Neer accepted an appointment as the elector’s court painter. InDüsseldorf in 1697, he met and married his third wife, Adriana Spilberg (b. 1656), the daughter of the previous court
painter Johannes Spilberg (1619–90), who had died in 1690.[11] The marriage was to be short-lived, for Van der Neer diedin 1703, “accompanied to his final resting place by a considerable cortège.”[12]- Piet Bakker, 2017

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Eglon van der NeerPage 3 of 4Endnotes
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 vanbeelden.” Arnold Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen(Amsterdam, 1718–21; rev. ed., The Hague, 1753; reprint, Amsterdam, 1980), 3: 172.
3. Jan Vos, Alle de gedichten van den poëet Jan Vos (Amsterdam, 1662), 125–41, esp. 140. See also thebiography of Jacob van Loo in this catalogue.
4. This information is from Houbraken. It is not known whether Van der Neer traveled to Orange of hisown volition—possibly en route to Italy—or had acquired this office through the intercession of anintermediary 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 groote schouburgh derNederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen (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. Portrait of Justus Ghys (1638–80) and Portrait of Jaquemijntje le Pla (1647–96?) (both PrivateCollection); see Eddy Schavemaker, Eglon van der Neer (1635/6–1703): His Life and HisWork (Doornspijk, 2010), nos. 33 and 34.
8. On the Dutch painters who sought employment abroad, see Horst Gerson, Ausbreitung und Nachwirkung
der holländischen Malerei des 17. Jahrhunderts (Haarlem, 1942; reprint, Amsterdam, 1983).
9. Arnold Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen (Amsterdam,1718–21; rev. ed., The Hague, 1753; reprint, Amsterdam, 1980), 3: 174.
10. Self-Portrait, signed and dated 1696 (Uffizi Gallery, Florence); Eddy Schavemaker, Eglon van der Neer(1635/6–1703): His Life and His Work (Doornspijk, 2010), 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 groote schouburgh
der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen (Amsterdam, 1718–21; rev. ed., The Hague, 1753;
reprint, Amsterdam, 1980), 3: 173.

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Eglon van der Neer
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Houbraken, Arnold. De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen. Amsterdam,1718–21; revised edition published in The Hague, 1753; reprinted in Amsterdam, 1980, 3: 172–75.
De Vries, A.D. and N. de Roever. “Biografische aanteekingen.” Oud Holland 3 (1885): 234.
Gaehtgens, Barbara. Adriaen van der Werff, 1659–1722. Munich, 1987.
Hecht, Peter, ed. De Hollandse fijnschilders: Van Gerard Dou tot Adriaen van der Werff. Exh. cat.
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum. Amsterdam, 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 Aert en Eglon vander Neer en hun verwanten.” Jaarboek Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie 54 (2000): 189–253.
Schavemaker, Eddy. Eglon van der Neer (1635/6–1703): His Life and His Work. Doornspijk, 2010.
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© 2024 The Leiden Collection