Aelbert Cuyp

Background

Aelbert Cuyp was born on January 20, 1620 in Dordrecht, South Holland, Netherlands. He was a son of Jacob Gerritsz Cuyp, who also was a painter. His uncle Benjamin and grandfather Gerrit were stained glass cartoon designers.

Education

Aelbert Cuyp was probably first taught by his father, the painter Jacob Gerritsz Cuyp, known mainly for his portraits.

Career

Between 1640 and 1645 Aelbert painted skillful monochromatic dune and river landscapes with diagonal compositions, much in the manner of Jan van Goyen.

Because of the scarcity of dated works it is impossible to say precisely when Cuyp introduced the misty golden light that is the hallmark of his mature style, but it was certainly in the 1640s. This innovation was based in part on his observations of the optical effects of moist atmosphere; this was a time when optical experimentation attracted widespread interest among the Dutch. The many drawings and paintings Cuyp made of activities on the rivers that made Dordrecht a busy port in his day give evidence of his scrutiny of subtle variations in light effects. The major impetus for this interest, however, probably came from Jan Both, who returned from Italy to Utrecht in 1641 and painted there until his death in 1652. To Claude Lorrain's unprecedented demonstration of the unifying power of light in landscape painting, Both added a new specificity through attentive study of appearances at different times of day. This approach was central to Cuyp's mature achievement. The particular light of a given moment became part of his subject. In his ability to translate specific light effects into paint, he surpassed his models and created landscape paintings of unique poetic sensibility.

As is clear from his Young Herdsmen with Cows (ca. 1655) Cuyp ensconced his soft, golden luminosity in firmly structured compositions. The monumental cattle, silhouetted against the sky, emphasize the aerial perspective and create the illusion of a visual field of vast depth. Considered relationships and classical restraint likewise contribute to the calm perfection of his matchless scenes of moonlight on the water, for example, Sailing Boats and Mill. As Cuyp apparently never went to Italy, it seems that his Italianate scenes, such as Travelers in a Hilly Landscape, depend on works by Both and other Italianizing Dutch artists. He died on November 15, 1691.

Achievements

• Aelbert Cuyp was a Dutch painter of the Baroque period who is known for his peaceful landscapes of the Dutch countryside, distinguished for their poetic use of light and atmosphere. He seems to have worked for a number of important Dordrecht families. He was clearly an important artist in the city. By the late eighteenth century, Cuyp had many other followers and imitators, including Jacob van Strij (1756 – 1815).

Works

More photos

• painting

  • Self-Portrait as a Boy

  • Ubbergen Castle

    1655

  • Orpheus with Animals in a Landscape

    1640

  • The Passage Boat

    1650

  • View of Dordrecht

    1655

  • Cattle Watering by an Estuary

  • River Landscape with Horseman and Peasants

    1660

  • Landscape with Shepherds and Flock, Near Rhenen

  • Panoramic Landscape with Shepherds, Sheep and a Town in the Distance

    1644

  • The Maas at Dordrecht

    1650

  • A Distant View of Dordrecht, with a Milkmaid and Four Cow

    1650

  • Flock of Sheep at Pasture

    1655

  • The Negro Page

    1652

  • Sunset over the River

    1655

  • The Maas at Dordrecht in a Storm

    1650

  • View of the Groote Kerk in Dordrecht from the River Maas

    1648

  • Lady and Gentleman on Horseback

    1655

Connections

In 1658 Aelbert Cuyp married Cornelia Boschman, a widow with three children. They had a daughter the following year. When his wife Cornelia died in 1689, he began living with his daughter and son-in-law, who was the proprietor of a brewhouse, "le Lis".

Father:

Jacob Gerritsz Cuyp

Mother:

Aertken Cornelis van Cootensdr

Spouse:

Cornelia Boschman

Uncle:

Benjamin Gerritszoon Cuyp

Grandfather:

Gerrit Gerritsz Cuyp

Daughter:

Arendina Aelberts Cuyp

References

• Dutch Landscape Painting of the Seventeenth Century Discusses Dutch paintings of country roads, rivers, woods, winter scenes, beaches, the sea, towns, and night scenes by Rembrandt, Cuyp, and others.
• The Masters of Past Time
  1997
• Aelbert Cuyp
  1878
• Dutch Art And Architecture, 1600-1800
• Aelbert Cuyp: Land, Water, Light Aelbert Cuyp (1620-1691) has been called the greatest of the Dutch masters of the Dutch Golden Age. The Arcadian feeling of Cuyp's landscapes made them so popular among English art lovers that almost all of the master's oeuvre was exported during the eighteenth century. Wouter Kloek, head curator at the Rijksmuseum, discusses the amazing versatility apparent in the ouvre of Aelbert Cuyp, the master of the golden light.
  2006