Seghers, Hercules

Seghers, Hercules (hĕr`külĕs zā`gərs), c.1590–c.1638, Dutch landscape painter and etcher. Seghers's work greatly influenced early 17th-century Dutch landscape painting. He studied with the painter Coninxloo (1544–1607) and may have traveled to Italy and in the Alps. Some of the frenzy of his personal life can be seen in his rare paintings and his more numerous, masterly etchings. His landscapes consist of vast, often desolate, panoramas and powerful, smaller scenes rendered with drama and pathos. Rembrandt owned eight paintings by him, and his own landscape style was influenced by Seghers. The best collection of his work is at the Rijks Museum.

Bibliography

See study by L. C. Collins (1953).