View source for Paulus Potter

{{Short description|Dutch painter (1625–1654)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}
{{Infobox artist
| bgcolour      = 
| name          = Paulus Potter
| image         = Bartholomeus van der Helst - Paul Potter.jpg
| imagesize     = 
| caption       = ''Portrait of Paulus Potter'' (1654) by [[Bartholomeus van der Helst]]
| birth_date    = {{birth date|1625|11|20|df=yes}} (baptised)
| birth_place   = [[Enkhuizen]], [[Dutch Republic]]
| death_date    = {{death date|1654|1|17|df=yes}} (buried)
| death_place   = [[Amsterdam]], Dutch Republic
| nationality   = [[Dutch Republic|Dutch]]
| field         = [[Painting]]
| training      = [[Pieter Symonsz Potter]]
| movement      = 
| works         = 
| patrons       = 
| influenced by =
| influenced    =
}}

'''Paulus Potter''' ({{IPA|nl|ˈpʌulʏs ˈpɔtər}}; 20 November 1625 (baptised) – 17 January 1654 (buried)) was a [[Dutch Republic|Dutch]] [[Painting|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==
[[File:Paulus Potter - De Stier.jpg|thumb|left|The painting ''[[The Young Bull]]'' (1647) is in the collection of the [[Mauritshuis]]]]

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]].<ref name="Liedtke">Liedtke, Walter A., Michiel Plomp, and Axel Rüger. 2001. ''Vermeer and the Delft school''. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art. {{ISBN|0-87099-973-7}} p. 332.</ref> After his mother died, his father started an affair with the wife of [[Pieter Codde]], also living in the fancy [[Sint Antoniesbreestraat]].  For some time his father was a manufacturer of gilded [[leather#Cordwain|leather]] hangings outside the city walls.

Potter became a member of the [[Guild of Saint Luke]] in [[Delft]], but by 1649, he moved to [[The Hague]], next to [[Jan van Goyen]]. In July 1650, Potter married Adriana van Balckeneynde (1627-1690). His father-in-law was a leading building contractor in the Hague and introduced him to the Dutch elite.<ref name="Liedtke" /> [[Amalia of Solms-Braunfels]], a member of the [[stadholder]]'s family and an art-lover, bought one of Potter's paintings, ''The Farmyard'',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.xs4all.nl/~kalden/dart/d-a-potter.htm |title=Paulus Potter (1625-1654) Painter of landscape and animal pieces. Born in Enkhuizen, in the Delft Guild from 1646-1649 |publisher=Xs4all.nl |access-date=10 April 2014}}</ref> 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.<ref>[https://rkd.nl/en/explore/images/128134 Equestrian portrait of Dirk (Diederik) Tulp (1624-1682)] at the [[RKD]]</ref> Potter composed a will in January of 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.

==Paintings==
Potter's most famous painting is ''The Young Bull'' (circa 1647), and is not to be confused with his work ''The Bull''. ''The Young Bull'' was composed after drawings Potter made in nature, and is now located in [[Mauritshuis]] in [[The Hague]]. 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 canvas ''The Innocent Eye Test''.

<gallery mode="packed" caption="Paulus Potter's paintings">
File:Paulus Potter - Punishment of a Hunter.jpg|''Punishment of a Hunter''<br>({{circa}} 1647) 
File:Potter A shepherd with cows.jpg|''Shepherd Boy with Cows'' (1647)
File:Paulus Potter - Figures with Horses by a Stable - Google Art Project.jpg|''Figures with Horses by a Stable'' (1647)
File:Twee paarden in de wei bij een hek Rijksmuseum SK-C-205.jpeg|''Two Horses in a Meadow near a Gate'' (1649)
File:The Farmyard 1649 Paulus Potter.jpg|''The Farmyard'', 1649, formerly known as ''The Pissing Cow'' from the collection of Amalia van Solms (1649)
File:Paulus Potter - Two Pigs in a Sty - Google Art Project.jpg|''Two Pigs in a Sty'' (1649)
File:Potter, Paulus - Cattle and Sheep - Google Art Project.jpg|''Cattle and Sheep''<br>(after 1650)
File:Paulus Potter - Animals Resting in the Pasture.jpg|''Cows Animals Resting in the Pasture'' (1650)
File:Paulus Potter - Wolf-Hound - WGA18220.jpg|''Wolf-Hound'' ({{circa}} 1650–1652)
File:The Piebald Horse - Paulus Potter - Dutch, about 1650 - 1654.jpg|''The Piebald Horse'' ({{circa}} 1650–1654)
File:Paulus Potter - Vier koeien in de wei.jpg|''Four Cows in a Meadow'' (1651)
File:Cattle in a Meadow by Paulus Potter Mauritshuis 138.jpg|''Cattle in a Meadow by Paulus Potter'' (1652)
File:Paulus Potter - Four Bulls - WGA18208.jpg|''Four Bulls'' (unknown)
File:'Cattle in a Meadow' by Paulus Potter, 1652, oil on wood.JPG|''Cattle in a Meadow'' (1652)
File:Paulus Potter 002.jpg|''Resting Herd'' (1652)
File:Een patrijshond Rijksmuseum SK-C-279.jpeg|''A spaniel'' (1653)
</gallery>

==Memorials==
[[File:Statue of Palus Potter at the Drommedaris in Enkhuizen.jpg|thumb|left|Statue of Paulus Potter at the Drommedaris in [[Enkhuizen]]]]
A statue of Potter (sketching a distant statue of a goat) was erected at the [[Drommedaris (tower)|Drommedaris]] in [[Enkhuizen]] in 1991.
{{-}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Paulus Potter}}
{{wikisourcepar|Century Magazine/Volume 48/Issue 6/Old Dutch Masters. Paul Potter|an essay about Paulus Potter and his work.}}
{{Wikisource1911Enc|Potter, Paul}}
* [http://www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/potter_paulus.html Artcyclopedia; Paulus Potter]
* [http://www.pubhist.com/person/144/paulus-potter Works and literature] at PubHist
* [http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/65202/rec/17 Vermeer and The Delft School], an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Paulus Potter
* [http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/59153/rec/1 Dutch and Flemish paintings from the Hermitage], an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (available online as PDF), which contains material on Paulus Potter (cat. no. 21)

{{ACArt}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, Paulus}}
[[Category:1625 births]]
[[Category:1654 deaths]]
[[Category:Dutch painters of animals]]
[[Category:Dutch genre painters]]
[[Category:Dutch Golden Age painters]]
[[Category:Dog artists]]
[[Category:Equine artists]]
[[Category:Dutch male painters]]
[[Category:Painters from Delft]]
[[Category:People from Enkhuizen]]
[[Category:Painters from North Holland]]
[[Category:17th-century deaths from tuberculosis]]
[[Category:Tuberculosis deaths in the Netherlands]]