The earliest known European artists in North America were Dutch portrait painters in New Netherland (which became New York in 1664, when the English took over the colony). The Dutch brought a rich artistic tradition with them from the Netherlands. They decorated their homes with oil paintings and prints, including landscapes, still lifes, and religious subjects. Although historical records show that Dutch painters in New Netherland were quite productive during the seventeenth century, only three works survived: portraits of New Netherland governor Peter Stuyvesant, Nicholas William Stuyvesant, and Jacobus Strycker, which were probably painted sometime between 1661 and 1666 by Huguenot (French Protestant) artist Henri Couturier.

Most Dutch painters were "limners" (that is, delineators, or artists who depicted their subjects by drawing). They usually earned their living at other trades such as housepainters or glaziers (people who place glass in windows), and they were sometimes self-taught. Many...