Notes

Jacobus van der Stok was a prominent Dutch landscape painter and draftsman associated with the Dutch Romantic period. Born in Leiden to a wigmaker, he studied under local painter Albertus Jacobus Besters before marrying Philippina Rekker in 1823 and relocating to Amsterdam in 1828.

He became highly celebrated for his finely detailed summer landscapes and frozen winter scenes (ijsgezichten) populated with ice skaters, highly reminiscent of the works of his contemporary, Andreas Schelfhout. A notable and quirky hallmark of Van der Stok’s style was his playful habit of hiding his signature inside his paintings, often camouflaging it into the scenery background, placing it in unusual corners, or writing it upside down. As a dedicated instructor, he passed on his craft to several notable students, including the famous architectural painter Cornelis Springer, Matthias Parré, and his own daughter, Jacoba van der Stok, who became a skilled floral still life painter.