Aert van der
Neer (born 1603/04, Amsterdam, died 1677, Amsterdam), was a
Dutch painter of the Baroque period, famous for his nocturnal
landscapes. He probably did not begin his painting career until
after 1630 and then was unable to make a reasonable living from his
art. In 1658 he opened a wineshop, but this venture ended in
bankruptcy in 1662. He probably reverted to painting, for he is
described as a painter in the inventory that was made of his few
belongings at the time of his death.
Apart from a number
of accomplished winter scenes, such as Riverscape in Winter
(Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam) in the manner of
Hendrik Avercamp,
he specialized in canal and river landscapes seen by the light of late
evening or early dawn or (most characteristic of all) by moonlight,
as in River Scene by Moonlight (Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam). Within
this limited range he had no rival among his contemporaries; his
best pictures are distinguished by sensitive handling of subdued
light and its reflections on water and in the windows of riverside
houses. His son
Eglon Hendrick
van der Neer
(1634–1703) and grandson Aert van der Neer the Younger were
also painters.