Paulus Potter – 17 January 1654 ) was a Dutch painter who specialized in animals within landscapes, usually with a low vantage point. Before Potter died of tuberculosis at the age of 28 he succeeded in producing about 100 paintings, working continuously.
Life
Paulus Potter was born in Enkhuizen. He was baptized on 20 November 1625. In 1628 his family moved to Leiden, and in 1631 to Amsterdam, where young Paulus studied painting with his father, Pieter Symonsz Potter. After his mother died, his father started an affair with the wife of Pieter Codde, also living in the fancySint Antoniesbreestraat. For some time his father was a manufacturer of gilded leather hangings outside the city walls. Potter became a member of the Guild of Saint Luke in Delft, but by 1649, Paulus moved to The Hague, next to Jan van Goyen. In July 1650, Potter married Adriana van Balckeneynde. His father-in-law was a leading building contractor in the Hague and introduced him to the Dutch elite. Amalia of Solms-Braunfels, a member of the stadholder's family and an art-lover, bought a painting with a pissing cow, but some court ladies seemed to have advised against it. In May 1652, he returned to Amsterdam on invitation of Nicolaes Tulp, who owned a number of his paintings. Tulp was impressed by his civilized behavior and politeness and had Potter paint his son Dirck Tulp as a noble equestrian. Potter already made a will in January 1653 and died a year later of tuberculosis, two months after his 28th birthday. Paulus painted a self-portrait which was at Hackwood Park, Hampshire until 1998. It is now at Elibank House, Buckinghamshire.
Memorials
A statue of Potter was erected at the Drommedaris in Enkhuizen in 1991.
Paintings
His most famous painting not to be confused with his work "The Bull" is The Young Bull, that is now in Mauritshuis in The Hague, composed after drawings Potter made in nature. Though this painting was criticized, it was greatly admired during the 19th century as an early example of Romanticism. The Young Bull features as the canvas being studied in Mark Tansey's 1981 monochromatic oil on canvasThe InnocentEye Test.
