A native of Amsterdam – Hendrik Averkamp, spent most of his life in Kampen. Deaf-mute from birth, Averkamp sensitively transmitted what was revealed to his gaze. The artist was the first who looked at the Dutch landscape through the eyes of a townsman, a man for whom nature is a well-habitable corner of the earth. The painting “Skating” combines elements of landscape and genre scene.
The moral meaning of the image has receded into the background.
A frozen river near the walls of Kampen was filled with numerous skaters, ice-fishing enthusiasts, peasants with sleighs. The figures are combined with daily worries: the gentleman corrects the horse a horse, a curious boy froze by the side, a little bit playing on the ice in the ball, an old lady is being taken on a sled, a dog is being truant. Here also the guard of order with a gun. The horizon line divides the picture into two equal parts; Winter nature appears in the picture as a natural environment of a private person.
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)