Dutch art

views updated May 18 2018

Dutch art Before the 16th century, the Church commissioned most Netherlandish art. Artists, such as Lucas van Leyden, produced elaborate altarpieces. After independence from Spain, the chief patrons were the merchant class. The 17th century was a golden age in portraiture, landscape, and genre painting, producing artists of the calibre of Rembrandt, Jan Vermeer, Frans Hals, and Jacob an Ruisdael. The 19th-century Hague School rekindled the Dutch landscape tradition. Van Gogh, though Dutch-born, had close links with 19th-century French art. In the 20th century, the main artistic contributions have come from Piet Mondrian and the De Stijl group.