Gerard Edema or Gerard van Edema (c. 1652,

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

– c. 1700,

Richmond, Surrey Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Commis ...

),Edema, Gerard van
at the

Netherlands Institute for Art History The Netherlands Institute for Art History or RKD (Dutch: ), previously Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie (RKD), is located in The Hague and is home to the largest art history center in the world. The center specializes in document ...

was a Dutch landscape-painter who settled in England.

Biography

Edema is stated to have been a native of

Friesland Friesland ( ; ; official ), historically and traditionally known as Frisia (), named after the Frisians, is a Provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the country's northern part. It is situated west of Groningen (p ...

. He was a pupil of

Allart van Everdingen Allaert van Everdingen (; bapt. 18 June 16218 November 1675 (buried)), was a Dutch Golden Age painter and printmaker in etching and mezzotint. Biography Van Everdingen was born at Alkmaar, the son of a government clerk. He and his older broth ...

, from whom he learnt to paint landscapes of a wild and savage nature, with a predilection for rocks and waterfalls. He came to England about 1670, in his eighteenth year, and shortly afterwards made an expedition to Norway to collect subjects for his pictures. These travels he extended to Surinam in Dutch Guiana, the West Indies, the English colonies in America, and Newfoundland. He returned to London with a great number of paintings representing the novel and unknown scenery which he had visited, and their strange and awe-inspiring character earned him the name of ‘the Salvator Rosa of the North.’ He had no difficulty in disposing of any number of them to the merchants whose business was connected with those countries, and his landscapes were eagerly sought after by the nobility. Edema, having no talent for figures and buildings, was usually assisted in this line by Jan Wyck. Sir Richard Edgcumbe, being anxious to have a series of views of Mount-Edgcumbe painted for his house there, employed Edema, Wyck, and Vandevelde to execute them in concert. They remained some time at Mount-Edgcumbe, and produced several views which still exist. Unfortunately for Edema his prosperity led him into luxurious habits and to an inordinate love of the bottle, which caused his death at Richmond about 1700. Two landscapes by him are at Hampton Court. He was a clever painter, but owed his success to the novelty and interest of his subjects. Some authorities distinguish him from a Nicholas Edema, living at the same time, who visited Surinam for the purpose of painting insects and plants, a line of art which he abandoned for landscape-painting. It seems almost certain that there was only one painter of the name.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Edema, Gerard 1650s births 1700 deaths 17th-century Dutch painters 17th-century English painters Dutch Golden Age painters Dutch male painters English male painters Frisian painters Painters from Amsterdam Emigrants from the Dutch Republic Immigrants to the Kingdom of England