Pieter Alardus Haaxmanartist • painter • watercolourist • draughtsmanDelft 1814-1887

The painter, watercolorist and master of drawing Pieter Alardus Haaxman received a thorough artistic training. At the age of 16 he was admitted to the Delft city drawing school, where he was taught by Cornelis van der Grient. He then learned painting from Cornelis Kruseman in The Hague. In his extremely refined style and care for precise material expression, the influence of the latter teacher is clearly visible. Haaxman focused on historical scenes and genre and figure depictions. These were appreciated by connoisseurs and fetched a good price. In 1840, for example, when he married Anna Ilcken, a niece of Edouard Manet's wife, he was able to move into a stately building on the Oude Delft. Haaxman lived and worked in Delft all his life and took an active part in artistic life there.