April (Aprills)
Medium
Etching; first state of two
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1951
Accession Number
51.501.5449
Tags
Art Historical Context
"April (Aprills)" a delicate etching from 1628–29, collaboratively by Dutch printmaker Jan van dede II and Bohemian etcher Wenceslaus Hollar This first-state impression, part of The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Whittelsey Collection, captures the essence of spring through a pastoral scene featuring horses, figures, buildings, and trees. Van de Vel, known for his intricate landscapes in the Dutch Golden Age tradition, likely the design, while Hol's masterful etching technique brought it to life with fine lines and subtle tonal variations. Etching, a revolutionary intaglio process popular in th...
About the Artist
Jan van de Velde II|Wenceslaus Hollar · 1593–1641
Jan van de Velde II (1593–1641) was one of the most accomplished Dutch printmakers and draughtsmen of the early seventeenth century, born in Haarlem into a dynasty of celebrated calligraphers and artists. His father, Jan van de Velde I, was a renowned writing master, and his cousin Willem van de Velde the Elder would later become a distinguished marine painter. Jan II studied engraving under Jacob...