Jan van Goyen (1596-1656)

• Was a Dutch painter.
• At age 35, he established a permanent studio at The Hague.
• Goyen always sought more income, he was also speculating in tulips (he was the last known victim of the tulip mania of the 1630s) and real estate.
• Although the latter was usually a safe avenue of investing money, in van Goyen's experience it led to enormous debts.
• He died in 1656 in The Hague, still unbelievably 18,000 guilders in debt, forcing his widow to sell their remaining furniture and paintings.
• Van Goyen's troubles also may have affected the early business prospects of his student and son-in-law Jan Steen, who left The Hague in 1654. 
•  The displayed painting is a crop from: Jan van Goyen, Village Scene - View from Leiden Den Haag, 1643.
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