Famous Citizens from Dordrecht
part 1
The story of the Dordrecht citizens
Johan and
Cornelis de Witt and
Simon
van Slingerlandt you can find on my
Republicans page
The Cuyp family
The name of a family of Dutch painters of Dordrecht, of which three members
gained distinction.
Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp (1594-1651/2) was the son of a glass painter and a pupil
of Abraham Bloemaert at Utrecht. He is thought of today mainly as a portrait
painter--his portraits of children are particularly fine--but in old biographies
is lauded principally for his views of the Countryside around Dordrecht.
Benjamin Gerritsz. Cuyp (1612-1652) was the half-brother of Jacob. He is
noted principally for paintings of biblical and genre scenes which use Rembrandtesque
light and shadow effects.
Aelbert Cuyp (1620-1691) is the most famous member of the family and now
one of the most celebrated of all landscape painters, although he also painted
many other subjects. He was the son and probably the pupil of Jacob Gerritsz.
Cuyp. His early works also show the influence of Jan van Goyen.
Aelbert Cuyp 1620-1691
Aelbert Cuyp 1620-1691 Dutch painter (born 1620, Dordrecht, died 1691, Dordrecht
Aelbert was born and died at Dordrecht, but he seems to have travelled along
Holland's great rivers to the eastern part of the Netherlands, and he also painted
views of Westphalia. A prodigious number of pictures are ascribed to him, but
his oeuvre poses many problems. He often signed his paintings but rarely dated
them, and a satisfactory chronology has never been established. Although he
had little influence outside Dordrecht, Cuyp had several imitators there, and
some of the paintings formerly attributed to him are now given to Abraham Calraet
(1642-1722), who signed himself `AC' (the same initials as Cuyp).
In 1658 Cuyp married a rich widow, and in the 1660s he seems to have virtually
abandoned painting. He was almost forgotten for two generations after his death.
Late 18th-century English collectors are credited with rediscovering his merits,
and he is still much better represented in English collections, public and private,
than in Dutch museums. His finest works--typically river scenes and landscapes
with placid, dignified-looking cows--show great serenity and masterly handling
of glowing light (usually Cuyp favored the effects of the early morning or evening
sun). He approaches Claude more closely in spirit than any of his Countrymen
who traveled to Italy.
His earliest landscapes (from 1639) were influenced by Jan van Goyen, but
he later discovered the Italianate views of the Utrecht painters Jan Both, and
Saftleven. Though he traveled up the Rhine in 1651 or 1652, he seems rarely
to have left Dordrecht and his work remained little known outside the town until
the eighteenth century. Following the deaths of his father and uncle, his work
assumed a somewhat grander character, to include equestrian portraits and extensive
views. In 1658 Cuyp married a rich widow, and in the 1660s he seems to have
virtually abandoned painting. He was almost forgotten for two generations after
his death.
Late 18th-century English collectors are credited with rediscovering his
merits, and he is still much better represented in English collections, public
and private, than in Dutch museums. His finest works--typically river scenes
and landscapes with placid, dignified-looking cows--show great serenity and
masterly handling of glowing light (usually Cuyp favoured the effects of the
early morning or evening sun). He approaches Claude more closely in spirit than
any of his Countrymen who travelled to Italy.
He was buried on 15 November 1691 in the Augustijner church in Dordrecht.
A few of his paintings
click image to enlarge
Self portrait as a boy (uncertain)
Canvas Dated ca. 1650 37 x 30 cm
The costume of the boy is dateable ca.1650-60.
click image to enlarge
Starting for the Hunt: Michiel (1638–1653) and Cornelis
Pompe van Meerdervoort (1639–1680) with Their Tutor and Coachman
Oil on canvas; 43 1/4 x 61 1/2 in. (109.9 x 156.2
cm)
The Friedsam Collection, Bequest of Michael Friedsam, 1931.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Description
Inventories of the castle of Meerdervoort made in 1680 and 1749 indicate
that Cuyp painted two boys of the wealthy Pompe van Meerdervoort family of Dordrecht
with their tutor Caulier and the coachman Willem. The picture hung over the
mantle in the children's room, the space for which it was intended. It must
have been painted by 1653, the year of Michiel's death. In the distance Cuyp
depicted not the flat landscape near Dordrecht, but the Countryside near Elten
on the Rhine. The inclusion of the ruined castle at the right may reflect the
family's pride in its social standing.
Cuyp was probably commissioned to represent an event that occurred during
the summer of 1646. At that time an enormous fleet of ships carrying thirty
thousand soldiers was anchored at Dordrecht; presumably for symbolic purposes
rather than for specific military ones as peace was finally at hand. The Treaty
of Münster, which ended all hostilities with Spain, was signed only two years
later.
click image to enlarge
Piping Shepherds, ca. 1643–44
Oil on canvas; 35 3/4 x 47 in. (90.8 x 119.4 cm)
Bequest of Collis P. Huntington, 1900
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Description
This early picture by Cuyp dates from about 1643–44. The figures resemble
those painted by the artist's father, Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp, but the canvas is
not one of their collaborative efforts. Many Dutch artists painted idyllic views
of the Dutch Countryside, but this one is distinguished by its charming naïveté:
the pipers play, the animals assemble, and the dog seems to know it is time
to go home.
click image to enlarge
Landscape with the Flight into Egypt
Oil on wood; 18 x 22 7/8 in. (45.7 x 58.1 cm)
Bequest of Josephine Bieber, 1970.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Description
Though Cuyp never went to Italy, he was inspired by the Italianate style
evolved by Dutch painters who had been there. This imaginary Mediterranean view
is reminiscent of Jan Both, who returned from Rome to Utrecht around 1642. Cuyp
probably painted it about a decade later.
click image to enlarge
Young Herdsmen with Cows, ca. 1650
Oil on canvas; 44 1/8 x 52 1/8 in. (112.1 x 132.4 cm)
Bequest of Benjamin Altman, 1913.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Description
Cuyp was the most talented member of a family of painters in Dordrecht. He
was influenced in the early 1640s by the Haarlem landscapists Jan van Goyen
and Salomon van Ruysdael, and then by Jan Both, who returned to his native Utrecht
about 1642 after a few years in Italy. These sources combine in this canvas
of about 1650 to transport a corner of Dutch dairy land to the Arcadian Countryside
of Claude Lorrain.
click image to enlarge
Lady and Gentleman on Horseback, c. 1655, reworked
1660/1665
Widener Collection
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
click image to enlarge
National Gallery London
River Landscape with Horseman and Peasants probably
1650-60 Oil on canvas 123 x 241 cm.
Description
This painting is one of the greatest 17th-century Dutch landscapes. It is
the largest surviving landscape by Cuyp, and arguably the most beautiful. The
entire scene is bathed in a gentle sunlight, harmonising all the elements, natural,
animal and human. The quality of the light is Italianate. However, Cuyp never
travelled to Italy, and he must have acquired this interest from Dutch contemporaries
who did, such as Jan Both.
This design is focused more directly on the landscape than in earlier paintings
by Cuyp on the same scale, and the figures and animals are more minutely painted.
The low sunlit mountains which dominate the peaceful scene are not a feature
of the Dutch landscape, but based on mountains seen by Cuyp on his travels in
the early 1650s.
According to the painter Benjamin West, it was this picture, acquired by
the Earl of Bute in the early 1760s, that began the rage for Cuyp among British
collectors in the 18th and 19th centuries. His popularity came to rival that
of Claude (1604/5?-82). Many of his best paintings were imported into Britain
and still remain here.
click image to enlarge
River Landscape with Riders, C.1655
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
click image to enlarge
E.G. Bührle Collection, Zurich
Thunderstorm over Dordrecht, C.1640-45
Oil on oakwood. 77.5 x 107 cm.
Description
This is the way cities appeared in the 17th century, before industrialization,
the population explosion and the "urbanization" of the landscape: Visible from
afar, they loomed up before the traveller and the peasant – dense solid structures
formed out of the amorphous Countryside. The low huddle of houses was accented
by the towers of church, town-hall and by windmills. This is Dordrecht in its
plain, the home city of the painter: he frequently depicted it in the background
of his pictures. The massive church is the Grote Kerk; farther to the left is
the town-hall. (Then if this were taken as topographically exact, we would have
to have the Old Maas in the middle distance.) The actual motif here, however,
is not the vastness of the landscape, nor the skyline of the town, not even
the enormous sky, but a climatic drama, which must often have inspired fear.
From the left, heavy grey rain clouds sweep across the picture. Rain is falling
in sheets (left of the church). To the right, the sky is still pale-blue. Lightning
is striking, in precisely observed, thick yellow streaks and not in naively
imagined zig-zags. It spares all the buildings and strikes the earth. The distant
houses are lividly illuminated. In the foreground, cows (two of them seem to
be spotlighted) and a horse patiently wait out the storm. This picture seems
to occupy a special place in the winning of the natural landscape for painting.
It is one of the first representations of the thunderstorm purely as a natural
phenomenon independently of content (e.g. a destruction of Sodom). This is an
early work by Cuyp, as shown by the yellowish-grey tone and heavy brush-work,
betraying the influence of Jan van Goyen. Seeing this picture in 1834, John
Constable exclaimed: "truly sublime".
click image to enlarge
Resting horsemen in landscape
Canvas 116 x 168 cm
Dordrechts Museum
click image to enlarge
Landscape with flute playing herdsmen
Canvas 96 x 115,5 cm
Dordrechts Museum
click image to enlarge
Cows in the Water
Panel, 59 x 74 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
click image to enlarge
The Dairy Maid 1650-60
Oil on canvas, 106 x 172 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg
click image to enlarge
Herdsman with Cows by a River 1650
Oil on canvas
National Gallery, London
click image to enlarge
Peasants with Four Cows by the River Merwede
Oil on wood, 38 x 50 cm
National Gallery, London
click image to enlarge
Rooster and Hens
Oil on panel, 48 x 45 cm
Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Ghent
click image to enlarge
The Avenue at Meerdervoort 1650-52
Oil on wood, 70 x 99 cm
Wallace Collection, London
click image to enlarge
Domestic Fowl -
Oil on oak panel, 44,5 x 54,5 cm
Groeninge Museum, Bruges
click image to enlarge
Grey Horse in a Landscape -
Oil on canvas
Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam
click image to enlarge
The Negro Page c. 1652
Oil on canvas, 142,8 x 226,7 cm
Royal Collection, Windsor
click image to enlarge
View of Dordrecht c. 1655
Oil on canvas, 97,8 x 137,8 cm
Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood House, London
click image to enlarge
Young Herdsman with Cows 1655-60
Oil on canvas
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
click image to enlarge
Evening Landscape with Horsemen and Shepherds 1655-60
Oil on canvas
Royal Collection, Windsor
click image to enlarge
The Ferry Boat 1652-55
Oil on wood, 72 x 90 cm
Wallace Collection, London
click image to enlarge
Landscape 1640s
Watercolor, 193 x 311 mm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg
click image to enlarge
Large River Landscape with Horsemen -
Oil on canvas
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
click image to enlarge
Landscape near Rhenen 1650-55
Oil on canvas, 170 x 229 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris
click image to enlarge
River Landscape 1655-60
Oil on canvas, 123 x 241 cm
National Gallery, London
click image to enlarge
River Scene with Milking Woman c. 1646
Oil on wood, 48,3 x 74,6 cm
Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe
click image to enlarge
A Road near a River -
Oil on canvas
Dulwich Picture Gallery
click image to enlarge
DORDRECHT: SUNRISE
Painted c. 1650.
Oil on canvas 40 1/8 x 63 3/8 in. (102 x 161 cm.)
This early morning scene, with its golden expanse of sky and water, is one
of Cuyp’s most ambitious attempts to render light and atmosphere. The painting
may ultimately reflect the influence of Claude Lorrain, whose landscapes impressed
many Dutch artists. Cuyp depicts the port city of Dordrecht as seen from the
north, looking across the river Merwede. Most prominent among the recognizable
buildings is the Groote Kerk, the church on the horizon to the left of the large
boat in the foreground.
click image to enlarge
The Maas at Dordrecht, c. 1650
oil on canvas, 1.149 x 1.702 m (45 1/4 x 67 in.)
Andrew W. Mellon Collection
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC
Description
Cuyp's masterful depiction of Dordrecht differs extensively from Van Goyen's
calm and serene view of this island city. Here the river Maas is the focus of
great activity; in the foreground a dignitary dressed in a black jacket with
an orange sash has just arrived at a large sailing ship. He is greeted by a
distinguished looking gentleman who stands among numerous other figures, including
a man beating a drum. On the left a second rowboat approaches, carrying other
dignitaries and a trumpeter who signals their impending arrival. Most of the
ships of the large fleet anchored near the city have their sails raised and
flags flying as though they are about to embark. The early morning light, which
floods the tower of the great church and creates striking patterns on the clouds
and sails, adds to the dramatic character of the scene.
Note : It is strange that there is no statue for our most famous painter
Aelbert Cuyp (even in Amsterdam there is the famous "Albert Cuyp market" dedicated
to him), I hope that once there will be one in his city, Dordrecht, to honor
him and I hope it will be a big one.
More details about Albaert Cuyp, you can also send a postcard with a painting
of this famous painter at this site.
Cuyp/aelbert,
Artcyclopedia and
Gallery.euroweb
More paintings you can find at
Aelbert Cuyp on the Internet
Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp 1612-1652 Dutch painter (b. 1612, Dordrecht, d. 1652,
Dordrecht)
Cuyp is the name of a family of Dutch painters of Dordrecht, of which three
members gained distinction.
Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp (1594-1651/2) was the son of a glass painter and a pupil
of Abraham Bloemaert at Utrecht. He is thought of today mainly as a portrait
painter--his portraits of children are particularly fine--but in old biographies
is lauded principally for his views of the Countryside around Dordrecht.
Benjamin Gerritsz. Cuyp (1612-52) was the half-brother of Jacob. He is noted
principally for paintings of biblical and genre scenes which use Rembrandtesque
light and shadow effects.
click image to enlarge
Portrait of Michiel Pompe van Slingeland 1649
Oil on canvas 106,5 x 78 cm
Dordrechts Museum
click image to enlarge
Prayer to the Kings
Oil on canvas 155 x 219 cm
Dordrechts Museum
click image to enlarge
Freeing of Peter
Oil on canvas 74,5 x 69,9 cm
Dordrechts Museum
click image to enlarge
The Angel Is Opening Christ's Tomb c.1640
Oil on wood, 72 x 89,6 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
click image to enlarge
Peasants in the Tavern
Oil on oak panel, 53 x 76 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest
click image to enlarge
Benjamin Gerritsz. Cuyp (1612 - 1652)
''Peasants in an Interior'', Oil on Panel
Dordrecht 17th Century
13.25'' x 10'' (33.7cm x 25.4cm)
click image to enlarge
Annunciation to the Shepherds
oil on panel 33 x 45 3/8 in.
More info at :
Artcyclopedia
Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp (Dordrecht 1594 - Dordrecht 1651/52)
click image to enlarge
Parrot Tulips 1638
panel, 38 x 76 cm
Dordrechts Museum
Next : Other
painters from Dordrechtand look at
Dordrecht views with the eyes of these great masters of painting like Ferdinand
Bol, Abraham Bloemeart, Abraham van Calreat, Aert de Gelder, Samuel van Hoogstraten,
Nicolaes Maes and many others, you can view these wonderful paintings and you
can download them for your personal use.
More paintings you can find at the
Art cyclopedia.
