Gerrit Adriaensz. Berckheyde

Gerrit Berckheyde (1638-1698) was baptised on 6 June 1638 in Haarlem. He was apprenticed to his elder brother, Job Berckheyde and to Frans Hals. He and his brother worked in Heidelberg for a while for the Elector Palatine. In around 1660, he returned to Haarlem and in the summer of that year was admitted to the local St Luke’s guild of artists. In 1698, he drowned in Haarlem's Brouwersvaart canal. After 1660, Berckheyde painted almost only townscapes, mainly of Haarlem, Amsterdam and The Hague. Despite the number of works, and his frequent repetitions, he paintings are invariably of exceptional quality.