The cultural life in The Netherlands is varied and lively. Dutch painting and crafts are world-renowned, and Dutch painters are among the greatest the world has ever known. The Dutch themselves take great pride in their cultural heritage, and the government is heavily involved in subsidizing the arts, while not involving itself directly in artistic control of cultural enterprises. Indeed, the long-enduring tradition of Dutch freedom of expression has undoubtedly played a remarkable role in the flowering of Dutch culture through the ages.

nation’s cultural life as a whole achieved an international reputation in the 17th century, which is often called its Golden Age. Among the influential Dutch figures of that time were jurist Hugo Grotius, scientists Christiaan Huygens and Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, cartographers Willem Janszoon Blaeu and Jodocus Hondius, writers Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft and Joost van den Vondel, philosopher Baruch Spinoza, and numerous theologians. In addition, foreigners lived in Holland to enjoy its tolerant atmosphere, the most famous being French philosopher and mathematician René Descartes and English philosopher John Locke. Well-known figures of the Golden Age include the great 17th-century Dutch artists, such as Rembrandt, Jan Vermeer, Frans Hals, and Jan Steen. The Dutch artistic tradition continued to be vigorous in more recent centuries—producing famous and influential painters such as Vincent van Gogh, Piet Mondrian, and Karel Appel.