Claes Jacobsz van der Heck

A view of Egmond Abbey, from the collection of Jacques Goudstikker.

The same view of Egmond Abbey by his relative Claes Dircksz van der Heck

Claes Jacobsz van der Heck (1575, Alkmaar – 1652, Alkmaar), was a Dutch Golden Age painter.

Biography

According to Karel van Mander he was a good painter, disciple of Jan Nagel (painter), related to Maarten van Heemskerck, and specialized in landscapes.^[1] According to Houbraken who mentions that he was listed on the last page of the Schilder-boeck, his works hung in the Alkmaar city hall when he was writing, and he mentions landscape views of Egmond Abbey, a Judgment of Solomon, portraits, and other historical allegories. He helped set up the Alkmaar Guild of Saint Luke in 1631.^[2] According to the RKD he helped set up the Alkmaar Guild of Saint Luke in 1632, and much of his work hangs in the Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar.^[3] Several of his landscapes of Egmond hang in that museum and one of them shows a landscape of Egmond aan Zee as it looked before it was washed to sea in 1717.

He was also related to the landscape painter Claes Dircksz van der Heck, who made similar landscapes and probably worked in the same workshop.^[4] According to Hessel Miedema's notes on this family in his translation of Karel van Mander's Schilder-boeck, "Jacques van der Heck" (or Jacob Dircksz) was a son of Maarten van Heemskerck's sister Neeltje and her husband Dirk van der Heck. Jacques' son "Niclaes" was Claes Jacobsz van der Heck. Heemskerck had disinherited "another nephew" (presumably a Dirk Dirksz, the later father of Claes Dircksz van der Heck), and left a portion in his will to Jacob Dircksz.^[5]

According to Houbraken he was the father of Marten Heemskerck van der Heck, but according to the RKD, Marten Heemskerck van der Heck was the son of his cousin Claes Dirksz.^[6]

References

1. ^ (Dutch) Niclaes van der Heck, van t'gheslacht van Marten Hemskerck, en Discipel van Ian Naghel, wesende een goet Schilder, besonder in Lantschap (Niclaes van der Heck, family of Marten Hemskerck, pupil of Ian Naghel, was a good landscape painter) on the last page of Karel van Mander's Schilderboeck, 1604, courtesy of the Digital library for Dutch literature
2. ^ (Dutch) Nicolaas vander Hek Biography in De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen (1718) by Arnold Houbraken, courtesy of the Digital library for Dutch literature
3. ^ Claes Jacobsz van der Heck in the RKD
4. ^ Claes Dircksz van der Heck in the RKD
5. ^ Schilder-boeck, Volume IV ("D"), p 94
6. ^ MARTEN HEEMSKERK vander HEK, Zoon van Nicolaas vander Hek in in De groote schouburgh

• Judgement of Salomon by Claes Jacobsz. van der Heck in the RKD
• Image database (search term: Heck) of Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar shows Judgement of Solomon by Heck, completed in 1616
• A view of Egmond Abby in the Rijksmuseum
• Claes Jacobsz van der Heck on Artnet

Persondata
Name	Heck, Claes Jacobsz nan der
Alternative names	Niclaes van der Heck
Short description	Painter
Date of birth	1575
Place of birth	Alkmaar, Netherlands
Date of death	1652
Place of death	Alkmaar, Netherlands