Jan van Goyen

Painter and draughtsman, active in Leiden, France and The Hague. Born in in Leiden in 1596, son of a shoemaker; pupil of Coenraet Adriaensz. van Schilperoort, Isaac van Swanenburgh, Jan de Man, Cornelis Clock (glass-painter), Willem Gerritsz. and Esaias van de Velde; teacher of Nicolaes van Berchem, A. van der Kabel, Jan Steen (his son-in-law; who married van Goyen's daughter in 1649), S. Ruysdael etc. 1615 in France; 1616 back to Leiden; 1618 married to Anna Willemsdochter van Raelst; 1631 in The Hague; 1656 died in The Hague. In 1634 he is recorded painting in Haarlem, in the house of Isaac, the brother of Salomon van Ruysdael. Mainly produced naturalistic landscapes; one of the pioneers of such landscapes; great influence on later painters. Produced roughly 1200 paintings and 800 drawings.