Willem de Poorter(Haarlem [?] 1608 – after 1648
Haarlem [?])How To Cite
Libby, Alexandra. "Willem de Poorter." In The Leiden Collection Catalogue. Edited by Arthur K. Wheelock
Jr. New York, 2017.
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The son of a Flemish émigré, Willem de Poorter was likely born in Haarlem in 1608.[1] The circumstances of
his training are not clear. It is often proposed that he studied with Rembrandt van Rijn (1606–69) in Leiden,
about 1629–30.[2] That training, however, may have occurred in Amsterdam as late as the mid-1630s,
thereby constituting not a student-pupil relationship so much as a mid-career supervision.[3] By 1633 De
Poorter’s name appears in the Haarlem city archives, where he is listed as a member of the Guild of SaintLuke by 1635.[4] Although he was documented as being in the village of Wijk bij Heusden in 1645, heseems to have spent his career largely in Haarlem, where his name continues to appear in the city’sarchives until 1648.[5] The date and location of his death are not known.
According to Arnold Houbraken, De Poorter was a specialist of history and still-life painting, though only a
few of the latter survive.[6] Today he is best known for his religious and mythological works, some of whichbear stylistic affinities to the early work of Rembrandt as well as to that of Rembrandt’s teacher, Pieter
Lastman (1583–1633). Like Rembrandt and Lastman, De Poorter set his scenes in large, dark interiors witha central grouping of figures differentiated through animated expression and pose. Scholars have attributed
these similarities to the proposition that De Poorter studied with Rembrandt in Leiden around 1629–30.[7] AsDavid De Witt and Adriaan Waiboer have argued, however, De Poorter also took artistic cues from hisfellow Haarlem artists.[8] His smooth manner of execution, figure types, and use of bright localized colors
against a monochrome background are closely reminiscent of the work of Hendrik Gerritsz Pot (ca.
1585–1657) and Pieter de Grebber (ca. 1600–52/53). Particularly in his early career, De Poorter was also
known to freely adapt from compositions by Hendrick Goltzius (1558–1617) and Maarten van Heemskerck(1498–1574).[9] Waiboer notes that De Poorter’s work begins to exhibit Rembrandtesque qualities only inthe mid-1630s, after he was recognized as an independent painter, thus suggesting he was likely afollower, rather than a student, of the Dutch master.
-Alexandra LibbyEndnotes© 2017 The Leiden CollectionWillem de Poorter
Page 2 of 3

1. Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike
bis zur Gegenwart, 37 vols. (Leipzig, 1907–50), 27:259.
2. B. P. J. Broos, “Poorter, Willem de,” Grove Art Online, Oxford Art Online, accessed
September 27, 2016.
3. Adriaan Waiboer, “Willem de Poorter: Rembrandt/Not Rembrandt Pupil,”Journal of Historiansof Netherlandish Art 5, no. 2 (Summer 2013), accessed October 14, 2016.
4. Adriaan van der Wiligen, Les Artistes de Haarlem (Haarlem, 1870; rev. ed., Nieuwkoop,1970), 245.
5. David De Witt, The Bader Collection: Dutch and Flemish Paintings (Kingston, 2014), 250;
Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von der Antike bis
zur Gegenwart, 37 vols. (Leipzig, 1907–50), 27: 259.
6. Arnold Houbraken, De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en
schilderessen, 3 vols. (Amsterdam, 1718–21; rev. ed., The Hague, 1753; reprint, Amsterdam,1980), 3:61.
7. See note 2, above. For a summary of the scholarship devoted to De Poorter’s student-pupil
relationship with Rembrandt, see Adriaan Waiboer, “Willem de Poorter: Rembrandt/NotRembrandt Pupil,” Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art 5, no. 2 (Summer 2013), accessedOctober 14, 2016.
8. Adriaan Waiboer, “Willem de Poorter: Rembrandt/Not Rembrandt Pupil,”Journal of Historiansof Netherlandish Art 5, no. 2 (Summer 2013), accessed October 14, 2016; David de Witt,The
Bader Collection: Dutch and Flemish Paintings (Kingston, 2014), 250–51.
9. Adriaan Waiboer, “Willem de Poorter: Rembrandt/Not Rembrandt Pupil,”Journal of Historiansof Netherlandish Art 5, no. 2 (Summer 2013), accessed October 14, 2016.

Literature
Houbraken, Arnold. De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders enschilderessen. 3 vols. Amsterdam, 1718–21; rev. ed., The Hague, 1753; reprint,Amsterdam, 1980, 3:61.
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Willem de Poorter
Page 3 of 3

Van der Wiligen, Adriaan. Les Artistes de Haarlem. Haarlem, 1870; rev. ed., Nieuwkoop,1970, 245.
Thieme, Ulrich and Becker, Felix. Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler von derAntike bis zur Gegenwart. 37 vols. Leipzig, 1907–50, 27:259.
Broos, B. P. J. “Poorter, Willem de.” Grove Art Online.

Oxford Art Online. Accessed

September 27, 2016.
Waiboer, Adriaan. “Willem de Poorter: Rembrandt/Not Rembrandt Pupil.” Journal ofHistorians of Netherlandish Art 5, no. 2 (Summer 2013). Accessed October 14, 2016.
De Witt, David. The Bader Collection: Dutch and Flemish Paintings. Kingston, 2014, 250.

© 2017 The Leiden Collection