# Gerard de Lairesse artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/gerard-de-lairesse/
Profile generated: 2026-05-30T05:40:00.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Nationality: Dutch
- Movements: Dutch Golden Age, Classicism (Dutch variant influenced by French academic tradition)
- Common media: oil painting, engraving and printmaking, drawing

## About Gerard de Lairesse

Gerard de Lairesse (1641–1711) was a Dutch Golden Age painter, engraver, and influential art theorist who became one of the leading classicist artists in the Netherlands after the death of Rembrandt. Active primarily in Amsterdam, De Lairesse turned Dutch taste toward the restrained, idealizing manner of French academic art championed by Charles Le Brun. His subjects ranged across allegorical, mythological, and biblical history painting, and he also produced significant interior decorations for elite Amsterdam patrons. Beyond painting, De Lairesse authored two widely read treatises—Grondlegginge Ter Teekenkonst (1701) and Groot Schilderboek (1707)—that shaped eighteenth-century art education across Europe. His intellectual reach extended into music, poetry, and theatre, making him a distinctive polymath figure in late-seventeenth-century Dutch cultural life.

## Common works and media

Oil paintings of allegorical, mythological, and biblical subjects form the core of De Lairesse's painted output, alongside large-scale ceiling and wall decorations for Amsterdam townhouses. He also produced numerous preparatory drawings and designs that were engraved by professional printmakers, resulting in a large corpus of reproductive prints. These prints—often mythological tableaux and title-page illustrations—are the works most frequently encountered at auction. Paintings range from cabinet-sized panels to monumental canvases, while the graphic work varies from fine impressions on laid paper to later re-strikes.

## Market and appraisal context

Gerard de Lairesse's works appear in the Old Master Paintings and Old Master Prints & Drawings categories at international auction. Value depends heavily on whether a work is an autograph painting, a workshop production, or a reproductive print after his designs—each category occupies a different market tier. Condition, provenance, scale, and subject matter (allegorical and mythological scenes are typically more sought after) all influence appraised value. Collectors should be aware that his prolific print output means engravings after De Lairesse are relatively accessible, while fully documented original paintings with clear provenance are considerably rarer and more valuable.

## Appraisily data basis

This Appraisily artist page combines researched artist-identity data from museum, library-authority, and scholarly sources with available auction records, sale dates, and comparable lot information. When public auction results are available, they are reflected alongside provenance and medium details to support appraisal context. Artist biographical facts are drawn from institution-grade authority files and published scholarship.

## Sources

- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q533958
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_de_Lairesse
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500024037
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/7436560/
- Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/gerard-de-lairesse-2633
- RKD (Netherlands Institute for Art History): https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/47470