Samuel van Hoogstraten and Printmaking
Stephanie S. Dickey and Michiel Roscam Abbing
Although Samuel van Hoogstraten (1627-1678) is best known today for his paintings, his earliest signed and dated work of art is a print: a small etched illustration for a treatise by the renowned Dordrecht physician Johan van Beverwijck (1594-1647) [1].1 The pamphlet Van de blauw-schuyt was published in 1642, shortly before Van Hoogstraten moved from Dordrecht to Amsterdam to study with Rembrandt (1606-1669). Thus, he arrived at Rembrandt's studio having already learned the basics of printmaking. His first teacher was his father, Dirck van Hoogstraten (1596-1640), who was trained as a silversmith before devoting himself to painting. Dirck made at least eight prints, most of them dating to the 1620s.2 Samuel may well have learned something about Rembrandt's techniques from Dirck, whose paintings after 1631 show awareness of Rembrandt's work.3
Printmaking played a sporadic role in Van Hoogstraten's peripatetic career. Apart from his apprenticeship with Rembrandt, he probably made etchings only during the years when he resided in Dordrecht, with his workshop and artistic network at hand. He produced a few independent sheets, but most of his prints were illustrations for books written by himself or others. The close relationship between his prints and his literary endeavours culminated in his treatise, Inleyding tot de hooge schoole der schilderkonst ('Introduction to the Academy of Painting'), published by his brother François van Hoogstraten (I) (1632-1696) in Rotterdam shortly before Samuel's death in 1678.4 In addition to being his most important literary work, the Inleyding provided the vehicle for his most ambitious prints.
In numerous literary tributes, colleagues praised Van Hoogstraten's ability to move easily between painting and poetry. When they spoke of his 'penseel', perhaps they were referring to his combined talents in drawing and etching as well as painting, but none of their verses specifically mentions his work as a printmaker.5 Van Hoogstraten was certainly aware that prints could be valuable collector's items; in the Inleyding, he describes the 'folly' of collectors (including Rembrandt) who were willing to pay enormous prices for works by printmakers such as Lucas van Leyden (1494-1533).6 Yet, it appears that his own prints were overlooked by collectors, or perhaps he did not actively market them. His independent etchings are extremely rare today, suggesting that he did not print them in large numbers. The most substantial holdings in public collections can be found in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, and the British Museum, London. For book illustrations, a few working proofs were pulled – as we will see, several extant examples shed light on his working process – but many of the finished impressions available today were probably removed from copies of the books.
The standard catalogue raisonné of Van Hoogstraten's prints was published by F.W.H. Hollstein in 1949, based in part on Dmitri Rovinski's survey of Rembrandt school prints from 1894.7 In 2002, Hans-Jörg Czech included a detailed account of the illustrations for the Inleyding in his study of the treatise, but he did not address the oeuvre as a whole. In 2008, Jan Blanc added a catalogue to his monograph on Van Hoogstraten's art theory, but largely adhered to Hollstein.8
This essay coincides with the publication of a new catalogue raisonné of Van Hoogstraten's work in all media. Our review of Hollstein's catalogue revealed a number of errors and omissions. Here we present key results of our analysis. Some questions still demand further research. While our primary goal is to clarify the scope of Van Hoogstraten's graphic oeuvre, our research also touches on his relationship with Rembrandt, his artistic and social network, and his lifelong engagement with visual and verbal imagery as complementary creative endeavours.
1
Samuel van Hoogstraten
Scurvy Grass (Spoonwort) at the border of the Wijkermeer near Beverwijk, dated 1642
Amsterdam, Universiteit van Amsterdam
Notes
1 J. van Beverwijck, Van den blauw-schuyt, de eygene ende gemeene sieckte van Hollandt, Zeelandt, Vrieslandt, &c. Met de eygene, ende gemeene kruyden aldaer wassende te genesen, Dordrecht 1642, p. 18.
2 Brusati 1995, p. 19; Roscam Abbing/Schillemans 2025, esp. pp. 81-83 and cat. nos. A1, A2, A7, A10, A15, A16, A17, A20.
3 On Dirck van Hoogstraten and Rembrandt, see Roscam Abbing/Schillemans 2025, esp. p. 32.
4 Van Hoogstraten 1678. Cited in English from Van Hoogstraten/Brusati 2021. Publications by Van Hoogstraten that do not have illustrations are beyond the scope of the present essay.
5 For instance, the eulogy inscribed on the self-portrait in the Inleyding, signed by Joachim Oudaan (1628-1692), praises Van Hoogstraten as a talent 'die 't penseel verwisselt met de pen'.
6 Van Hoogstraten 1678, pp. 212-213; Van Hoogstraten/Brusati 2021, pp. 248-249.
7 D. Rovinski, L'Oeuvre gravé des élèves de Rembrandt, St. Petersburg 1894; Hollstein Dutch & Flemish 1949-2010, vol. 9, pp. 136-142.
8 Czech 2002, pp. 301-380, Appendix III, pp. 217-255; Blanc 2008. See also Roscam Abbing 1993; Thissen 1994; Brusati 1995; Weststeijn 2008; N.M. Orenstein, ‘Printmaking among artists of the Rembrandt School’, in Dickey 2017A, pp. 305-318; P. van der Coelen, 'Biblical iconography in the graphic work of Rembrandt’s circle’ in Dickey 2017A, pp. 268-284.