Gerard Altmann

Gerard Altmann (1877-1940) was born in Rotterdam, where he lived throughout his life. Initially, he worked in an office as a correspondent, while also taking Sunday classes from Jan de Jong, a teacher at the Rotterdam Academy. From his 22^nd, Altmann studied at the Rotterdam Academy for Visual Arts between 1901 and 1904. After his education, he set out to become a landscape painter, and became friends with Cornelis Vreedenburgh, who regularly painted the lakes at Kortenhoef. For most hof his career, he primarily painted landscapes in an Impressionist style, placing him in the tradition of the Hague School of painting. Besides these landscapes he regularly painted portraits, and flower still-lifes. His work was respected in his own times, and when the Dutch crown-princess turned 18, a Rotterdam committee acquired one of his paintings as an official gift to her. At the occasion of his sixtieth birthday, Altmann was honoured with an exhibition of his works in the N.V. Algemeene Kunsthandel in Rotterdam.