1585 -1634 · Amsterdam, Kampen and Dutch Golden Age

Frozen canals, tiny crowds and winter horizons make Hendrick Avercamp the great chronicler of the pleasures of ice cream in the Netherlands.

Hendrick Avercamp was born in Amsterdam in 1585 and grew up in Kampen, where his father became an apothecary. Deaf and probably mute, he was long nicknamed the Mute of Kampen. Around the beginning of the 17th century, he returned to Amsterdam to train with the painter Pieter Isaacsz. His first scenes show the influence of the Flemish landscapes of Gillis van Coninxloo, David Vinckboons and especially the narrative tradition of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Avercamp specializes in winter landscapes, then called wintertjes. Avercamp specializes in winter landscapes, then called wintertjes. A high viewpoint embraces canal, town and countryside; on the ice, skaters, kolf players, fishermen, elegant people, farmers, children and animals form a complete society. Tiny incidents - fall, conversation, work, play or comic detail - reward a prolonged look. Winter scene on a frozen canal organizes this abundance by the perspective of the waterway and atmospheric variations. In later works, after his definitive return to Kampen before 1613, the horizon lowers and the space becomes more natural. The painter observes white light, cold mists, distant silhouettes and muffled reflections with increasing finesse. Avercamp is also a prolific designer. With a pen, chalk and watercolor, he carries out studies of figures reused in several paintings as well as very sheets completed for sale. Although he also painted some summer landscapes and river views, winter remained his incomparable territory. Died in Kampen in 1634, he influenced his nephew Barent Avercamp and numerous specialists in the icy scene. The "Hendrick Avercamp" selection notably compares Scène d'hiver on a frozen canal and Scène d'hiver on a canal. His reading favors the atmosphere.

Avercamp makes ice a public stage: the climate unites the entire city, while each tiny figure brings its gesture, its profession and its history.