Dirk van der Aa
Encyclopedia
Rococo
Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...
painter who is best known for his allegory
Allegory
Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
.
Life
He was born in The HagueThe Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, and first apprenticed to Johann Heinrich Keller, and then to Gerrit Mes with whom he would later start a workshop
Workshop
A workshop is a room or building which provides both the area and tools that may be required for the manufacture or repair of manufactured goods...
; they specialized in grisaille
Grisaille
Grisaille is a term for painting executed entirely in monochrome or near-monochrome, usually in shades of grey. It is particularly used in large decorative schemes in imitation of sculpture. Many grisailles in fact include a slightly wider colour range, like the Andrea del Sarto fresco...
decorative paintings. He counted Evert Morel, Cornelis Kuipers, Johan Christiaan Roedig and Andries van der Aa amongst his students. He died in his home city of The Hague.
Works by Dirk van der Aa
- Allegory of Summer: Cherubs disporting in a landscape (1775), part of a pair with Allegory of Autumn view at Artnet
- Spielende Putten auf Wolken (Playing Putti on Clouds) (1773)
- An overdoor: Putti desporting on clouds by a vase on pedestal (1773) view at Artnet
- Spielende Putten, Allegorie des Sommers (Playing Putti, allegory of summer), attributed to Dirk van der Aa view at Artnet