AVERCAMP, Barend
(b. ca. 1612, Kampen, d. 1679, Kampen)

Biography

Barend (or Barent) Avercamp, Dutch painter and illustrator, the nephew and pupil of Hendrick Avercamp whose style he consistently continued. He lived in Kampen for most of his life but spent extended periods in Zwolle (?1615-26) and Zutphen (?1640-50). He married in 1640 he married Mechtelt Hoberinck, and later in 1658 he married his second wife, Aeltien Gerrits.

He held many public positions, notably one in the Guild of St Luke, Kampen (he was dean in 1656, 1662 and 1677), and worked in various other capacities, including as a lumber merchant. He had a mill and a pottery.

For a long time, though his artistic activities were known from archival documents, his paintings were generally attributed to his uncle. A small group was ascribed to Barent Avercamp in the early 1920s by Welcker, who proposed that paintings dated after 1634 or signed 'Avercamp' or 'B. Avercamp' should be attributed to Barend instead of to Hendrick Avercamp.