Nicolaes Pietersz Berchem was born in the west of Holland, in a small town. In the same year, 1620, his father moved to the suburb of Antwerp, Haarlem. “Van Haarlem” – this nickname would become the artist’s second name a few years after he came of age.

First steps in the creative field

The artist’s father, Pieter Class, was a painter. It is not surprising that he acted as the first teacher of young Nicolas. And although he was a famous still life painter, this did not affect the formation of the young man’s creative views. He became a landscape painter.
The boy painted his first serious work at the age of fourteen.

A couple of years later, he studied with Jan van Goyen, already a famous landscape painter at that time. His work influenced the young artist: Berchem realized that he liked to paint nature, and actively began to move in this direction.
At the same time (early 1930s), he took the creative pseudonym “Berchem”, after the town where he was born.

Another important figure in Berchem’s life was Nicolaes Mooyaert. The latter became famous thanks to his paintings of animals and biblical scenes.

In 1634, Nicolaes’ mother died, after which he went to Amsterdam. It was here that he met his future mentor.
In addition to Mooyaert, Berchem had several other famous teachers, with one of whom, Jan Baptist Weenix, he traveled to Italy.

The turning point: a trip to Italy

Biographers consider a trip to Italy in the early 1940s to be the starting point for the formation of the author’s style. It impressed the artist with its unique nature, which can be easily traced in the works of that period.
At that time, the authority of Italian masters in Holland was extremely high, and therefore such trips were not uncommon among Dutch artists. It was in Italy that they sought experience, inspiration and new ideas for their paintings. Berchem was no exception.

The trip gave his paintings a new look: on the canvas, one after another, appeared scenes from the Holy Scriptures, mythological characters, wonderful Italian landscapes in warm, eye-pleasing tones. It is not exactly known what caused such plots, whether it was the influence of Mooyaert, or the popularity of such themes in Holland at that time, but everything screamed about one thing: Berchem was infinitely impressed by the beauty of the Italian land.

Personal life of Nicolaes Pietersz Berchem

Berchem returned from Italy inspired, determined to actively work on his paintings. Then, in 1646, he got married. His wife was Katharina Claesz de Groot, a domineering, capricious woman who was striving for wealth. She sought profit in everything.
This marriage became a real trap for the artist: Katharina forced him to paint more and more, deciding which works to sell and which to leave. She managed to sell some of them in absentia.

Despite this, the couple had four children: two boys and two girls. One of the sons, Nicolas, was greatly impressed by his father’s work: he later also became an artist (Nicolas Berchem the Younger).

Recognition and further activity

Nicolaes Pietersz Berchem painted quite a few paintings. Paradoxically, it was not they that brought him popularity, but his engravings, which were successfully distributed throughout the country by publishers and book creators. From that moment on, the artist received public recognition. In 1647, his candidacy was considered for painting the royal palace, but the final choice was made in favor of more famous names.

From 1642 he was a member of the Saint Luke’s Guild of Painters in Haarlem. Within its framework, he founded a new tradition: whenever a member of the guild left the city, he had to leave one of his paintings to decorate the main hall.
This happened completely by chance during another visit of Berchem to Amsterdam, in the early 1660s. When leaving, he left one of the paintings in the hall. This set an example for the other members of the guild, and after a couple of years their meeting place resembled an art gallery.

Around 1650, Berchem went on another trip. This time, before going to Italy, he visited the Westphalian lands of Germany. After this, having returned to his homeland in 1656, the artist bought a house with a garden in Haarlem, but a few years later he moved to Amsterdam. There he worked on a new geographical atlas together with the cartographer Nicolaes Visscher.

In Amsterdam, he worked actively for 10 years, after which he returned to his native Haarlem. But he did not stay there for long either: only 7 years. In 1667, he finally moved to Amsterdam. Here he devoted himself entirely to art: he actively collaborated with other artists and painted his own pictures.

Berchem has more than 800 works to his credit, which have become a kind of symbol of Dutch art of the Enlightenment.

Nicolaes Pieter Berchem died in 1683. His body rests in Amsterdam, on the territory of the Westerkerk church.