Exhibition: the paintings of Aert Schoumans

1766

The Dutch painter Aert Schouman (1710-1792) began to learn to draw and paint when he was 15 years old. He finally became famous for his ability to paint nature, not the normal animals you would see in the Dutch landscape, but he painted the exotic animals the rich had in their volieres and menagiers.

He often painted huge wallpaintings with Dutch landscapes full of exotic animals like flamingo's or monkeys or even an elephant.

One of the most prestigious assignments he had was to paint the dining room for stadhouder Willem V of The Netherlands. When the stadhouder and his family fled the country in 1795 (when the French invaded), the wallpaper was folded up and left in the attic, where it was found again in 1975.

Aert Schouman was amazing with birds, and I must say I never saw more beautiful paintings of birds.
Last week I went to an exhibition in the museum of Dordrecht, the town where Aert Schouman was born, and it was beautiful to see. I loved how they also showed birds, so you could see for yourself how accurate his paintings were.

Aert Schouman was an excellent painter and he deserves more fame.
The exhibition can be seen until September 2017, so if you are in The Netherlands, this is worth a trip!

The dining-room

Detail dining room

Detail dining room

Water painting