Pieter de Molijn

Pieter de Molijn, also de Molyn, (* April 6, 1595 in London, † March 23 1661 in Haarlem ) was a Dutch landscape painter. He is with Jan van Goyen and Salomon van Ruysdael, who also worked in Haarlem, the main representative of the tonal landscape painting.

Pieter de Molijn was baptized in London as a member of the Dutch Reformed church in Austin Friars. Maybe he was in his youth some time in Italy and was a student of Esaias van de Velde. In 1616 he is detectable as a member of the Guild of St Luke the painter in Haarlem. From 1616 to 1627 he lived in Delft and then again in Haarlem.

His picture dunes of 1626 is considered one of the earliest works of the Haarlem School of tonal landscape painting with monochrome palette. As a painter, he devoted himself to the most varied subjects. Landscape pictures portraits, genre painting, marine images, architecture images.

Among his students Gerard ter Borch Jan Coelenbier, Anthony Molijn, Allart van Everdingen.

He had a son Pieter (1637-1701), who went to Rome and was a member of the circle Dutch- Flemish painter Bentvueghels. He was there when Peter Tempesta known and mainly painted hunting scenes. Later he was sixteen years in Genoa in prison for killing his wife. In the French siege in 1684, he was released and went to Parma.