_Hendrik van Avercamp_ (Dutch: 1585-1663).
A characteristically animated work by the Mute of Kampen, as
this painter was called. He was the son of a schoolmaster. He
was born dumb, and documents have been discovered in which his
mother speaks of her "dumb and pitiable son." Having shown
an early talent for drawing, he was placed with a painter at
Amsterdam, and there and at the Hague he practised until 1625.
He afterwards joined his widowed mother at Kampen. In her will
of 1633 she made provision for him "in order that he may not be
a burden on his brothers and sister." He loved especially to
depict lively scenes of winter sport. He defines his figures
sharply against the ice and snow. "The refined modulations of
tint and the delicacies of aerial perspective, aimed at by
painters of such scenes in the middle of the 17th century, are
seldom found in Avercamp's works" (Official Catalogue).