Oil on wood
Netherlands, 2nd half 17th century
Circle of Aelbert Cuyp (1620-1691) – Dutch landscape and animal painter
Inscribed lower left ‘A. Cuyp. f.’
In profile frame
Dimensions: 26.7 x 36.2 cm
River landscape with cows and sheep in the manner of the Dordrecht landscape and animal painter who gained great publicity especially with its depictions of laying cattle in wide Dutch landscape in the atmospheric light of the sunrise and sunsets; similar motifs in a similar format fetch up to €30,000 on the auction market

On the left in the foreground four reclining or standing cows and two sheep are shown in fine brushwork on a hill. On the right, the beholder’s gaze can wander into the depths, where a wide landscape with a low horizon under a loosely clouded, sun-irradiated sky is visible. This solar glow, which captures the whole picture and bathes it in a picturesque, gleaming mood is typical for the work by the Dutch painter.

The painting is inscribed lower left ‘A. Cuyp. f.’. It shows several spots of retouching, especially in the area of the sky on the left and in the lower left corner, and slight framing traces. The frame is in good condition with signs of age and wear. The painting measures 26.7 x 36.2 cm. The framed dimensions are 44 x 53.5 cm.

Albert Cuyp (1620-1691)

Aelbert Cuyp was born to a Dutch family of artists resident in the Dutch town of Dordrecht. His grandfather, his uncle and his father were painters and thus also Aelbert Cuyp was taught by his father. In his workshop, he presumably painted initially the landscape backgrounds in various family portraits by his father. Apart from occasional journeys through Holland and along the Rhine he was all his life a resident of Dordrecht and became the most famous painter of the family. He also held a number of high public functions in Dordrecht. Aelbert Cupy’s paintings are famous mainly for their bright, atmospheric landscapes filled with sunlight in which animals act in spite of the dominant position in the foreground only as decoration. Aelbert Cuyp seems to have been more locally known during his lifetime and has founded no school. Only later, his work became internationally known and appreciated especially towards the end of the 18th century in England where it influenced the English painter William Turner. (fea)

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