Famous Dutch Painters from Dordrecht, Ancient Capital of Holland

Part 10

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21. Samuel van Hoogstraten

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Note : Please do not email me with technical questions about paintings and their age and origin because I am not an expert but I only have gathered information about the Painters from the Netherlands and specially from Dordrecht.

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Dordrecht is not only known as the oldest city and ancient capital of Holland but also for the many famous painters who were born or lived in Dordrecht during the late Middle ages and later centuries.

On the next pages you can find many works from these famous painters who were responsible for many styles of paintings and they immortalized the daily life and landscapes in the 15th to 19th century. Most of their masterpieces are nowadays part of collections in museums all over the world and of which many can be seen in the local Dordrechts Museum.

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Samuel van Hoogstraten

Dordrecht 1627 - Dordrecht 1678

Samuel van Hoogstraten was born in Dordrecht on 2 August 1627. He was first the pupil of his father, then, some time after his father's death in 1640, he entered Rembrandt's studio, where a fellow pupil was Carel Fabritius. The two young painters probably influenced each other: certainly both showed great interest in geometrical perspective, and Hoogstraten constructed peep-shows with tromp l'oeil scenes inside. Hoogstraten traveled widely, visiting Rome and Vienna, where he was patronized by the Emperor. He was in London in 1666, at the time of the Great Fire. He finally settled in his native town where he was made a Provost of the Mint. His major contribution to art was a book, published in 1678 "lnleyding tot de Hooge Schoole der Schilderkonst" (an introduction to the art of painting) and one of the few handbooks on painting published in Holland in that century. He died in Dordrecht on 19 October 1678.

Dutch painter and writer on art. He painted genre scenes in the style of de Hooch and Metsu, and portraits. but he is best known as a specialist in perspective effects. One of his "perspective boxes" which shows a panted toy world through a peep-hole, is in the National Gallery, London. Only in his early works can it be detected that he was a pupil of Rembrandt.

He traveled all over Europe exhibiting his trompe l'oeil-based peepshow boxes. Samuel Van Hoogstraaten was a student of Rembrandt and studied the writings of Da Vinci. He attended a Dutch school of Trompe l'Oeil which is also a term that means 'deceptive trickery', to 'fool one's eye' and to 'deceive the sight'.

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Museums in The Netherlands

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The holy family in an interior

Samuel van Hoogstraten
Ink on paper 16,2 x 13,2 cm
Dordrechts museum

A home performance of the Holy family, not as usual, with Jesus as a baby to Mary, but as toddler in intimate embrace with Joseph. Hoogstratens drawing may have Rembrandt's eyes, but the scene is certainly not following the master, rather a translation of Rembrandt's original form language and thought.

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Portrait of Mattheus van den Broucke, (1620-1685)

Samuel van Hoogstraten, 1676
Oil on canvas 89 x 71,3 cm
Dordrechts museum

Matthew van den Broucke made career as governor of the VOC. In 1677, a year after his townsman Van Hoogstraten painted this portrait of him he became Mayor of Dordrecht. Van den Broucke had himself portrayed in his role as regent and Board of Indie for the VOC. His left arm rests on a globe, just above the area of the Dutch colonies in Indie. Left behind the curtain Dordrecht is seen, with the Grote Kerk and the port where ships just arrive in the harbors.

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Portrait of Johan Cornelisz Vijgeboom and His Wife

Samuel van Hoogstraten, 1647
Oil on canvas, 102 x 130 cm
Dordrechts museum

Portrait of Johan van Cornelisz. Vijgeboom and his wife Anneke Joosten Boogaart in the garden of their Country house in Dubbeldam.

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Trompe l'oeil- still-life

Samuel van Hoogstraten, 1664
Oil on canvas 45,5 x 57,5 cm
Dordrechts Museum

In August 1651 Van Hoogstraten received at the Viennese court of Emperor Ferdinand III a gold medal. He received it in honor for a trompe-ll'oeil painting or trickery of the eyes (bedriegertje). Soon van Hoogstraten made a whole series of such fraudulent real paintings, with objects in a letterbox. The personal significance of the objects were still a kind of self-portraits. In this painting we see left the imperial medal on a gold chain. Writing, a leather journal with the year 1664 and a book in marbled paper rolled indicate Hoogstraten's literary activities. The antique cameo and the big ridge of turtle suggest wealth, honor and social standing.

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Mint Masters of the Mint of Holland in Dordrecht

Samuel van Hoogstraten,1657
Oil on canvas 137,8 x 165 cm
Dordrechts museum

Dordrecht was already in the thirteenth century, the fixed currency city of Holland. The officers of the Mint had inherited functions as "waardijn" (Mint-master) who belonged to the upper-class of the city. In 1656 Samuel van Hoogstraten came to the Mint. As a newcomer he places himself on the back row on the far right. On the table is a note with the names of the portrayed. The main figure in the middle of the table is the "waardijn" Adriaan van Blyenburgh. Compared with the Nightwatch by Rembrandt in 1642 this group portrait looks as old-fashioned. Van Hoogstraten, even as Rembrandt did, made a good likeness of the portrayed.

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Mint Masters of the Mint of Holland in Dordrecht

Samuel van Hoogstraten, 1674
Oil on canvas 139,5 x 165,5 cm
Dordrechts museum

In his second group portrait of the Mint Masters placed Van Hoogstraten himself in front. He took a confident attitude to decompose to Renaissance portraits, with an elbow stabbing out of the picture. Van Hoogstraten, wares the Golden medal he received from of Emperor Ferdinand III. The portrayed are placed more in the center than in the portrait from 1657. Later, van Hoogstraten added new members on the top row. The three heads at the top left are painted by the young Anthony Vreem (1660-1681). His contribution is of meager quality therefore he was payed only eight guilders per portrait, instead of the ten dollars that Van Hoogstraten received.

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Adoration of The Child

Samuel van Hoogstraten, 1647
Oil on canvas 57,5 x 70,5 cm
Dordrechts Museum

A group of shepherds - men and women - worship the Christ Child in the crib. At the right Mary in the background lookinh to Joseph. In this early work by Samuel van Hoogstraten we see clearly clearly the influence of his teacher Rembrandt (1606-1669). Rembrandt had a few years earlier painted the Holy family himself, simply with homely atmosphere. The wood fire and the descending Angels are also present on that painting. Samuel van Hoogstraten would shortly after 1650 radically change his style. With this painting he created one of the most intimate scenes from his total oeuvre.

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Inside the Westminster Abbey London

Samuel van Hoogstraten, 1663-68
Oil on canvas 156 x 110 cm
Dordrechts Museum

From 1662 to 1667 Samuel van Hoogstraten worled in London for his English clients, he painted mainly portraits and architectural pieces. In this painting, both genres are combined, A man and a woman posing in a church. The artist wanted the attention of the spectator not only be given to the couple. He also showed some highlights of his ingenuity as a perspective painter. With a refined design, the eye of the spectator through a series of progressively by-look and details. Behind the rich dressed pair is the text "Blessed are the merciful" to read, a reference to Christian charity.

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Bird still-life wit cat

Samuel van Hoogstraten, 1669
Oil on canvas 76,4 x 64,5 cm
Dordrechts museum

As art theoriticus Van Hoogstraten turned himself in his writings against Still-lifes. In his classical training he protested particularly against lifeless animals and things, he called this style of painting the lowest step in art. He was opposed to an illogical arrangement of objects, such as a slimy haddock in combination with a velvety fudge. Possibly this painting contains a humorous comment on the still life with dead animals, the dead rooster in a beautifully draped dress is exhibited, as food for the cat.

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Interior with lady and a dog

Samuel van Hoogstraten, 1678
Oil on canvas 55,4 x 47,2 cm
Dordrechts museum

Genre pieces are paintings of scenes from everyday life, ranging from chic to pub scenes and scenes of Jan Steen household. Van Hoogstraten painted around 1670 a number of small-size interiors with richly dressed figures. The careful presentation of the clothing and the color were used by the wishes of the public in the second half of the seventeenth century. The look at the other house was a typical tradition in Dordtse seventeenth-century painting. It can also be found by the native painters Nicolaes Maes and Cornelis Bisschop.

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The Anaemic Lady

Samuel van Hoogstraten, 1660s
Oil on canvas, 70 x 55 cm
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

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Mattheus van den Broucke (1620-85)

Samuel van Hoogstraten, c. 1670/78
Oil on canvas 142 x 111 cm
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Portrait of Mattheus van den Broucke (1620-85), Governor of the Indies, with the gold chain and medal presented to him by the VOC (Dutch East India Company) in 1670.

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Madonna and child with St Anne

Samuel van Hoogstraten, 1630
Oil on panel 71,2 x 55,2 cm
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

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Portrait of a painter

Samuel van Hoogstraten, c. 1660
Oil on canvas 43 x 37 cm
Bredius Museum The Hague

Formerly also thought to be a self-portrait, but the model looks nothing like the one next, nor is it similar in style and technique.

Most probably this portrait is Aelbert Cuyp aged about 40.

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Self portrait with turban

Samuel van Hoogstraten, 1644
Oil on panel 63 x 48 cm
Bredius Museum The Hague

Van Hoogstraeten has dressed himself up with turban, pearls and fur collar to make himself look exotic. He must have painted it while still a pupil of Rembrandt, as other Rembrandt-pupils did the same.

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Museums in the United Kingdom

 

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A Peepshow with Views of the Interior of a Dutch House

Samuel van Hoogstraten, 1655-60
Oil and egg tempera on wood 58 x 88 x 63.5 cm
National Gallery London

Signed on a letter on the floor of the box, A Monsieur/Mon(s) S. Hoogstraten/a/ dordrecht

A superb Hoogstraaten perspective box c. 1660. Two individual views from individual peepholes provided this 3-dimensional view of a contemporary Dutch home. Five walls of the interior 'box' are painted with interior scenes of perspective while the front wall is left open for light. Light once again comes into our story as it is this very light from the open side that plays against the perspective artwork of Hoogstraaten.

The peepshow is a rectangular box, the interior is painted on three sides, as well as on the top and bottom. The sixth side is open; originally light would have entered the box from this side, perhaps through specially treated paper stretched across it. The box would have been placed close to a window or illumination provided by a candle. There are peep-holes in the two shorter sides which provide the illusion of three-dimensional views of the interior of a house. Hoogstraten's box is an unusually elaborate example, decorated on the exterior with allegorical paintings which correspond to chapters in a theoretical book that the artist was to write later. The long side illustrates love of wealth as a motivation for the artist, who appears with a putto holding a cornucopia. Love of art and of fame are the subjects of the paintings on the short sides, while the top is decorated with an allegory of physical love, representing Venus and Cupid in bed, painted in anamorphic (distorted perspective) projection.

The box was painted in Dordrecht in the late 1650s. A number of such peepshows were made in Holland but only a few examples have survived.

 

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A Peepshow with Views of the Interior of a Dutch House

Samuel van Hoogstraten, 1655-60
Oil and egg tempera on wood 58 x 88 x 63.5 cm
National Gallery London

Signed on a letter on the floor of the box, A Monsieur/Mon(s) S. Hoogstraten/a/ dordrecht

This box is one of the finest survived.

        

 

  

  

  

  

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Sir Thomas Knatchbull (died 1703) Recorder of Maidstone

Samuel van Hoogstraeten, 1667
Watercolour 32,7 x 24,1 cm
National Portrait Gallery London

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A young man reaching for his cap

Samuel van Hoogstraten, 1630
City Galleries, Manchester

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Other museums of Europe

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Self-Portrait

Samuel van Hoogstraten
Oil on canvas 63 x 48 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersbug

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Trompe l'oeil- Still-life

Samuel van Hoogstraten, 1666-68
Oil on canvas, 63 x 79 cm
Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe

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Court of the Hofburg, Vienna

Samuel van Hoogstraten, 1652
Oil on canvas 79 x 49,5 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien

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Old man looking through the window

Samuel van Hoogstraten, 1653
111 x 86,5 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien

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View of a Corridor

Samuel van Hoogstraten, c. 1670
Oil on canvas, 260 x 140 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

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Interior view, or The Slippers

Samuel van Hoogstraten, 1658
Oil on panels 103 x 70 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

From 1839-42 to 1877-83, this painting bore Pietsser de Hooch's monogram with the not unlikely date of 1658. Contemporary with the early work of de Hooch and Vermeer, it was formerly attributed to each but is quite distinct from the latter's experiments. Alluding - as does the Ter Borch-inspired picture in the background - to the vain and gallant pastimes of the absent mistress of the house, this is a subtly moralistic piece, a fascinating exercise in perspective, and a painting of poetic calm.

 

 

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Museums in the USA

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Two Women by a Cradle

Samuel van Hoogstraten, 1670
Oil on canvas, 66 x 55 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield USA

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The Detroit box

Samuel van Hoogstraten, 1654-1662
Oil paint glass mirror and walnut 42.0 x 30.3 x 28.2 cm
The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit USA

The Detroit box is one of only six extant perspective boxes. This type of boxes were made in Dordrecht, Holland during a twenty-five year period beginning about 1650. The images incorporate several themes characteristic for Dutch paintings in the late 17th century and portrays interiors of wealthy Dutch houses architectural views, and symbols of the vanity of earthly pleasures.

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Resurrection of Christ

Samuel van Hoogstraten, c. 1650
Oil on canvas 81 x 64.9 cm
The Arts Institute of Chicago

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Woman at a Dutch door

Samuel van Hoogstraten
Oil on canvas, 12.5 x 18 cm
The Art Institute, Chicago

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The Annunciation of the Death of the Virgin

Samuel van Hoogstraten, c. 1670
Oil on canvas 66 x 52.7 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

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Private collections

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Portrait of a lady

Samuel van Hoogstraten
Oil on panel 40.8 x 30.8 cm
Private collection

Portrayed half-length, in a red and white dress, a dark red wrap and pearl earrings, a letter in her left hand, leaning on a stone ledge.

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Youth reading on stairs beneath a landing, a dog in the background

Samuel van Hoogstraten
Oil on canvas 238 x 171 cm
Private collection

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Mother with a Child in a Wicker Cradle

Samuel van Hoogstraten
Oil on canvas, 58 x 48 cm
Private collection

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A Portrait of Count Ferdinand von Werdenberg

Samuel van Hoogstraten, 1652
Oil on canvas 192.4 x 134.6 cm
Private collection

Portrayed standing full-length, stepping from a Staircase with a Brittany Spaniel. The painting is signed, dated and inscribed with the Hapsburg Coat of Arms.

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A young boy preparing to bath in a stream, watched by a girl

Samuel van Hoogstraten
Oil on Canvas 95.5 x 75.5 cm
Private collection

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A gipsy telling the fortune of a young couple under an arcade

Samuel van Hoogstraten
Oil on canvas 68.3 x 55 cm
Private collection

She seated small full length, wearing a white silk dress with yellow wrap, he leaning over a balustrade, wearing a light brown mantle, a Country house in a garden beyond.

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Portrait of a young man

Samuel van Hoogstraten
Oil on canvas 52.2 x 44.2 cm
Private collection

Portrayed bust-length, in a brocade-lined cloak and a velvet black cap.

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Famous Dutch Painters from Dordrecht, Ancient Capital of Holland

Part 9

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19. Aert de Gelder
20. Pieter Hofmann

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Note : Please do not email me with technical questions about paintings and their age and origin because I am not an expert but I only have gathered information about the Painters from the Netherlands and specially from Dordrecht.

---

Dordrecht is not only known as the oldest city and ancient capital of Holland but also for the many famous painters who were born or lived in Dordrecht during the late Middle ages and later centuries.

On the next pages you can find many works from these famous painters who were responsible for many styles of paintings and they immortalized the daily life and landscapes in the 15th to 19th century. Most of their masterpieces are nowadays part of collections in museums all over the world and of which many can be seen in the local Dordrechts Museum.

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Aert de Gelder

Dordrecht 1645 - Dordrecht 1727

Dutch painter, active mainly in his native Dordrecht. After studying there with Hoogstraten, he became one of Rembrandt's last pupils in Amsterdam. He was not only one of the most talented of Rembrandt's pupils, but also one of his most devoted followers, for he was the only Dutch artist to continue working in his style into the 18th century.

His religious paintings, in particular, with their imaginative boldness and preference for oriental types, are very much in the master's spirit, although de Gelder often used colors--such as lilac and lemon yellow--that were untypical of Rembrandt, and his palette was in general lighter. One of his best-known works, Jacob's Dream (Dulwich College Picture Gallery, London), was long attributed to Rembrandt.

Aert de Gelder, a native of Dordrecht, was Rembrandt's last pupil. He worked in his studio in Amsterdam in the 1660s before returning to Dordrecht. De Gelder's style, with its loose and fluid brushstrokes and muted palette, remained remarkably close to Rembrandt's late style, while the general taste at the time favored a Flemish-influenced more colorful and tightly executed manner of painting.

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Esther, Ahasveros and Haman

Aert de Gelder
Oil on canvas 105 x 150 cm
Dordrechts museum

Of all biblical figures queen Esther was most preferably for Aert de Gelder. Probably 17 pictures devoted de Gelder to this Jewish heroine, who by her brave performance at the court of the Persian king Ahasveros saved her people. Thanks to Mordechai, the plans of Haman, who wanted to eradicate the Jews, timely drained. The refined exposure and the means of pictorials - with paintbrush, knife and paintbrush he painted in the spirit of his master Rembrandt.

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Feminine allegoric figure

Aert de Gelder, 1700/10
Oil on canvas 86 x 69,2 cm
Dordrechts museum

This picture became for a long time seen as pendant of a portrait of Hendrik Noteman. The painting is supposedly a lump of a bigger picture that in a auction in 1785 occurred as 'The Freedom' The work of the Dordrechts Museum does not seem anyhow meant as a portrait. The staff in the hand of the woman and her outfit indicate previously in the tendency of an allegoric figure.

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Portrait of the sculptor Henrdrik Noteman

Aert de Gelder,  1698
Oil on panel 85,4 x 69, 2 cm
Dordrechts museum

The sculptor Hendrik Noteman retains a hammer in the one hand and a chisel in the other. On the background of picture a piece of work is seen, made of stone hewed or molded head.

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King David

Aert de Gelder
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

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Ernestus van Beveren (1660-1722)

Aert de Gelder, 1685
Oil n canvas 128 x 105 cm
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Ernestus van Bevren was twenty-five years old when Arent de Gelder painted him, just beginning his career. At this time, Van Beveren had already gained a degree in law from the University of Anjou. This indicates that, in his youth, he had made a 'grand tour' In the 17th century a fashion emerged among the wealthy to round off a young persn's education with a long journey. This Grand Tour would usually be undertaken with a tutor, past the various sights of Europe. Invariably, the tour would lead to Italy, where the stay might stretch for months, if not years. Ernest van Beveren is wearing a heavy black robe trimmed with gold embroidery over a tunic. Van Beveren is resting one hand on the table while the other is held out as though he were giving a speech. He became Lord of West-IJsselmonde and the Lindt. He became  a prominent citizen of Dordrecht, serving as alderman and for a short time burgomaster of Dordrecht

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Judah and Tamar

Aert de Gelder, c. 1700
Oil on canvas 80 x 97 cm
Mauritshuis, The Hague

This painting shows the moment when Tamar demands the pledges from Judah. Old Testament stories were popular subjects for paintings in 17th-century Holland and contemporary viewers would have immediately recognised the source for this picture.

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Simeon's Song of Praise

Aert de Gelder, c. 1700
Oil on canvas
Mauritshuis, The Hague

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The forecourt of the Temple

Aert de Gelder
Oil on canvas 70,7 x 91 cm
Mauritshuis, The Hague

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Portrait of a Young Woman

Aert de Gelder, c.1680-1700
Oil on canvas 80 x 64 cm
The Wallece collection, London

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Self-Portrait at an Easel Painting an Old Woman

Aert de Gelder, 1685
Oil on canvas
Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt

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On the Way to Golgotha

Aert de Gelder
Oil on canvas 72 × 60 cm
Staatsgalerie Aschaffenburg Germany

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The Jewish Bride (Esther Bedecked)

Aert de Gelder, 1684
Oil on canvas
Alte Pinakothek, Munich

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Esther and Mordochai

Aert de Gelder, 1685
Oil on canvas, 93 x 148,5 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

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Self-portrait

Aert de Gelder
Oil on canvas, 79 x 64 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg Russia

De Gelder is holding an etching by Rembrandt in his hands.

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Portrait of Gérard de Lairesse

Aert de Gelder, 1665-67
Oil on canvas, 113 x 88 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

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Ahimelech Giving the Sword of Goliath to David

Aert de Gelder, 1680s
Oil on canvas, 90 x 132 cm
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles

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Rest on the Flight to Egypt

Aert de Gelder, c. 1690
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The "Rest on the Flight to Egypt" is an old subject for paintings, going back to the middle ages. It illustrates Matthew 2:12-14: And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own Country another way. And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt.

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Schoolmaster with his Pupils

Aert de Gelder
Oil on canvas 101.0 x 127.6 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

The influence of Rembrandt, de Gelder's teacher, is apparent in the artist's expressionistic handling of paint and interest in the depiction of age and knowledge. However, de Gelder has expanded Rembrandt's color palette and given additional emphasis to the specific gestures and poses of his figures. Note how the students bend intently over their writing desks, and the schoolmaster braces a shaking left hand against his cane.

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Portrait of a Boy

Aert de Gelder, c. 1700
Oil on canvas, 57 x 47 cm
Private collection

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Esther at her toilet

Aert de Gelder
Oil on Canva 110 x 123 cm
Private collection

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The Archangel Raphael

Aert de Gelder
Oil on canvas 53 x 43 cm
Private collection

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Joseph weeping in his room, his brothers beyond

Aert de Gelder
Oil on canvas 131.1 x 103.5 cm a pair (2)
Private collection

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Old Woman at Prayer

Aert de Gelder
Oil on canvas 90,5 x 78,5 cm
Private collection

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Pieter Hofmann

Dordrecht 1755 - Dordrecht 1837

Hofman was born in Dordrecht, no information of him is available, only that he made several beautiful paintings.

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A military encampment on the Campus Martius before the Ponte Molle, Mount Soracte

Pieter Hofman
Oil on Canvas 228.6 x 308 cm
Private collection

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Battaglia

Pieter Hofman
Oil on Canvas 100.5 x 152.5 cm
Private collection

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Landscape with Farmer house

Pieter Hofman
Oil on panel  37.5 x 48.5 cm
Private collection

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Famous Dutch Painters from Dordrecht, Ancient Capital of Holland

Part 7

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The Cuyp family part 3

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13. Aelbert Cuyp Part 2

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Note : Please do not email me with technical questions about paintings and their age and origin because I am not an expert but I only have gathered information about the Painters from the Netherlands and specially from Dordrecht.

---

Dordrecht is not only known as the oldest city and ancient capital of Holland but also for the many famous painters who were born or lived in Dordrecht during the late Middle ages and later centuries.

On the next pages you can find many works from these famous painters who were responsible for many styles of paintings and they immortalized the daily life and landscapes in the 15th to 19th century. Most of their masterpieces are nowadays part of collections in museums all over the world and of which many can be seen in the local Dordrechts Museum .

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Aelbert Cuyp

Dordrecht 1620 - Dordrecht 1691

Aelbert Cuyp (1620-1691) is the most famous member of the Cuyp 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 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 atributed 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 Clauded 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.

He was buried on 15 November 1691 in the Augustijner church in Dordrecht. After his death in 1691, Cuyp's fame grew steadily. The greatest collector of his paintings was the eighteenth-century Dordrecht iron dealer and mint-master Johan van der Linden van Slingeland, who owned forty-one works by the artist. After the sale of his collection in 1785, many of these paintings entered collections in England, where Cuyp's works were greatly admired for their grandeur.

From the mid-eighteenth century onward, the enthusiasm for his paintings was so great in England and France that by 1800 no significant work by the master was left in the Netherlands. Since then, Cuyp's fame has spread even further and many of his finest works are now in American collections, among them masterpieces once owned by Van Slingeland. The present exhibition reunites more than forty of Cuyp's paintings for the first time in over two hundred years, presenting them along with some forty-five of the master's drawings.

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Aelbert Cuyp in other Museums in Europe

France

The Louvre museum, Paris

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View on Cleves

Aelbert Cuyp
Black, graphite, gray wash watercolor 15,8 x 24,9 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

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View of Dordrecht Groothoofdspoort

Aelbert Cuyp
Black, brown wash, watercolor 13,7 x 26,4 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

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View of Castle Purmerend

Aelbert Cuyp
Black wash watercolor 11,5 x 23 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

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Landscape near Rhenen

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1650-55
Oil on canvas, 170 x 229 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

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Boats on the estuary of the Hollands Diep river near Dordrecht

Aelbert Cuyp
Oil on canvas 107 x 146 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

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Portrait of a boy and the young Bergere Chevre

Aelbert Cuyp
Oil on canvas 125 x 103,5 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

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Departure for the promenade on a horse

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1665
Oil on canvas 119 x 152,5 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

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Landscape with three Cavaliers

Aelbert Cuyp
Oil on canvas 117 x 182 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

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Other Cities in France

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Rest in the Camp

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1660
Oil on canvas 97 × 130 cm
Musée des Beaux Arts, Rennes

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The Groothoofdspoort in Dordrecht from the West

Aelbert Cuyp
Black chalk, gray wash 18.3 x 31.1 cm
Collection Frits Lugt. Institut Néerlandais.. Paris

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Russia

The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

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View of Schravendeel

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1645
Black chalk, brush and brown and yellowish-green wash, gum-arabic 19.3 x 31.1 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

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Landscape with a Road on the Edge of a Forest

Aelbert Cuyp, 1642/44
Black chalk, brush and grey wash 18.5 x 31 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

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The Dairy Maid

Aelbert Cuyp, 1650s
Oil on canvas, 106 x 172 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

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Sea by Moonlight

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1648
Oil on panel 77 x 107.5 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

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Sunset over the River

Aelbert Cuyp, 1650s
Oil on panel 78.5 x 53 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

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Germany

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Utrecht with the Vecht River and the Pellekussenpoort

Aelbert Cuyp
Black chalk, gray wash, water-colored in green, traces of pen and gray ink and some white Body-color. 17.6 x 30.7 cm
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin

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River Landscape with Bridge

Aelbert Cuyp, 1640
Oil on panels. 40.3 x 54.9 cm
Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Framkfurt am Main Germany

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River Scene with Milking Woman

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1646
Oil on wood, 48,3 x 74,6 cm
Staatliche Kunsthalle, Karlsruhe

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Path between Trees

Aelbert Cuyp
Black chalk, gray wash, brushed with gum arabic. 17.7 x 29.5 cm
Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main Germany

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Other Countries in Europe

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Domestic Fowl

Aelbert Cuyp
Oil on oak panel, 44,5 x 54,5 cm
Groeninge Museum, Bruges

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Rooster and Hens

Aelbert Cuyp
Oil on panel, 48 x 45 cm
Museum voor Schone Kunsten, Ghent

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Pasture with cows and shepherds

Aelbert Cuyp, 1641/43
Oil on panel 49 x 74 cm
Residenzgalerie Salzburg

This landscape poetry is one of the most significant examples of the early works of the artist, probably from 1641 to 1643. Soft sunlight meets the sky, air and earth. Between gnarled oak, which is to be that they have some weather have survived, the honey-colored grazing ground. With expressive handwriting, the artists short, powerful strokes and pasty applied the structured surface in the foreground and middle ground. In the foreground cows are resting in the shade. Two shepherds with their dog have established themselves besides an oak. Under the bright, high clouds sky opens the image space to low-lying horizon and the sea. Through the horizon line of the architecture of the Utrecht Maria-church. The remote view confuse the diffuse light background, fills the room with wide screen. The brownish-yellow clay changes here in a soft white, bright in the gray clouds of lively game goes on. Cuyp composed in consideration of light and air prospect of a tranquil idyll. He created a piece of Holland, which invites the viewer to pause, to the senses through the allegorical content of the image with religious, political and economic associations, but also about light and space as an image event itself to be effective.

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Cows in the Water

Aelbert Cuyp
Panel, 59 x 74 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

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The meeting of David and Abigail

Aelbert Cuyp
Oil on canvas 154,5 x 207,5 cm
Kunstmuseum Basel

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Thunderstorm over Dordrecht

Aelbert Cuyp, C.1640-45
Oil on oakwood. 77.5 x 107 cm
Bührle Collection, Zurich

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. 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.

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Museums in the USA

The National Gallery, Washington DC

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River Landscape with Cows

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1645/50
Oil on panel 68 x 90.2 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

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Horsemen and Herdsmen with Cattle

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1655/60
Oil on canvas 120 x 171.5 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

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Lady and Gentleman on Horseback

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1655, reworked 1660/65
Oil on canvas 123 x 172 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

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The Maas at Dordrecht

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1650
Oil on canvas, 1.15 x 1.70 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

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.

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Herdsmen Tending Cattle

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1655/60
Oil on canvas 66 x 87.6 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington DC

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The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

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Piping Shepherds

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1643
Oil on canvas 90.8 x 119.4 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

The figures resemble those painted by the artist's father, Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp, but the canvas is not one of their collaborative efforts.

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Young Herdsmen with Cows

Aelbert Cuyp, ca. 1650
Oil on canvas 112.1 x 132.4 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

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.

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Children and a Cow

Aelbert Cuyp, 1635/39
Oil on panel 43.8 x 54.6 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

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Cows and Herdsman by a River

Aelbert Cuyp, 1650s
Oil on oak panel 50.17 cm x 74.3 cm
The Frick collection, New York

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Landscape with Trees

Aelbert Cuyp
Black chalk, gray wash, watercolored in brown, yellow, and green, partly brushed with gum arabic 18.7 x 30.8 cm
Metropoitan Museum of Art, New York

Cuyp's looped and choppy lines, plumped up with touches of color, bring us the beauty of the Dutch Countryside in summer, when warm light flickers through twigs and foliage. Cuyp was probably in his early twenties when he made this fine sheet. It belongs to a group of drawings executed in and around Utrecht, his mother's hometown.

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Starting for the Hunt

Aelbert Cuyp c. 1653
Oil on canvas 109.9 x 156.2 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Michiel (1638-1653) and Cornelis Pompe van Meerdervoort (1639-1680) with Their Tutor and Coachman. 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. It must have been painted by1653, the year of Michiel's death.

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Dordrecht Viewed from the North, with a Windmill in the Foreground

Aelbert Cuyp
Black chalk, gray wash, watercolored with green, some brown chalk. 18.2 x 36.8 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

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Landscape with the Flight into Egypt

Aelbert Cuyp c. 1645
Oil on wood 45.7 x 58.1 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

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.

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The Frick collection, New York

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Dordrecht sunrise

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1650
Oil on canvas 102 x 161 cm
The Frick collection, New York 

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. 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.

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Other Cities in the USA

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A View of the Maas at Dordrecht

Aelbert Cuyp
Oil on panel 19 3/4 x 42 1/4 in
The Getty museum, Los Angeles

A boat divides this panoramic river view, with the town of Dordrecht on the right, where the river Maas meets the sea, and the city of Zwijndrecht opposite. Although the painting looks as if it were painted at the scene, Aelbert Cuyp executed the canvas in his studio, using studies previously made outdoors. By employing an extreme horizontal format, he emphasized the flatness of the land under the wide expanse of sky. The low horizon opens out to a vast, cloud-laden sky, evoking the changeability of coastal weather. Cuyp included precise details that convey the particularities of the specific place portrayed: the boat's rigging and flag and the towns' windmills, houses, and churches.

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View of the Rhine Valley (recto; View of the Heideberger Mill Near Cleves (verso)

Aelbert Cuyp
Black chalk and graphite 5 3/16 x 9 5/16 in
The Getty museum, Los Angeles

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The Flight into Egypt

Aelbert Cuyp, late 1650s
Oil on panel 67.95 x 90.81 cm
Los Angeles County Museum of Art

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View of the Maas near Dordrecht

Aelbert Cuyp, c.1645
Oil on panel 49.53 x 76.2 cm
Los Angeles County Museum of Art

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Panoramic Landscape with Shepherds

Aelbert Cuyp, 1640/45
Oil on panel 76.8 x 107 cm
Saint Louis Art Museum

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Landscape with Horse Trainers

Aelbert Cuyp, 1650
Oil on canvas. 118.7 x 170.2 cm
The Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Ohio

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The Valkhof at Nijmegen from the Northwest

Albert Cuyp, c. 1650
Oil on Cavas 19 1/4 x 29 in.
Museum of Art, Indianapolis

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The Baptism of the Eunuch

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1642
Oil on Canvas 42 1/2 x 59 1/2 in.
The Menil Collection, Houston

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Landscape with Maid milking a cow

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1655
Oil on canvas 101,6 x 134,6 cm
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit

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Landscape with the Ruins of Rijnsburg Abbey

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1645
Oil on canvas 102,2 x 141 cm
Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit 

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Canada

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A Herd of Cows with a Herdsman and a Rider

Aelbert Cuyp, 1665/70
Oil on panel 90 x 120 cm
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

Cuyp was influenced first by the simplified and often monochromatic palette of Jan van Goyen, and later by the Italianate landscapes of Jan Both. He is perhaps best known for his ability to illuminate selectively and with great mastery various parts of his landscapes. Here, with one of his favorite subjects, herdsmen and cattle, Cuyp carries a golden haze of sunlight over the figures in a wonderful play of light and shadow. 

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Private collections all over the world

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Orpheus Charming the Animals

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1640
44 1/2 x 65 3/4 in.
Private collection, Boston

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The Windmills at Kinderdijk (recto)

Aelbert Cuyp
Black chalk, gray wash, watercolored in brown and red, heightened with white 13.7 x 18.9 cm
Private collection, USA

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Ice Scene before the Huis te Merwede at Dordrecht

Aelbert Cuyp, 1650
Oil on panel. 64 x 89 cm
Private collection

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Landscape with Shepherds and Shepherdesses

Aelbert Cuyp, 1643/45
Oil on panel 77.5 x 107.5 cm
Private collection, Belgium

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A Farm with Cottages and Animals

Aelbert Cuyp, 1642/43
Oil on canvas 105 x 155 cm
Private collection

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Bulls on a Riverbank

Aelbert Cuyp, 1650
Oil on panel 59 x 72 cm
Private collection

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Goatherd in landscape, a Distant View of Amsterdam

Aelbert Cuyp, c.1650
Oil on panel 78 x 106 cm
Commercial Gallery Peter Nahum at The Leicester Galleries.

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Young Sportsman

Aelbert Cuyp, c.1646
Oil on canvas 129,6 x 98,5 cm
Commercial Gallery Peter Nahum at The Leicester Galleries.

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Two Horsemen on a Ridge

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1646
Oil on canvas 13 x 16 3/4 in.
Private collection, New York

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Hunter in a river landscape

Aelbert Cuyp
Private collection

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Barges close-hauled in light Airs on a River

Aelbert Cuyp
Oil on panel 30,8 x 42,9 cm
Private collection

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A view of Dordrecht from the end of the Papendrechtse bank of the river Noord

Aelbert Cuyp
Black chalk, brush and brown ink, grey, brown and yellow wash, the foreground heightened with gum arabic, fragmentary watermark WR, pen and brown and black ink framing lines
Private collection

This large sketch was last auctioned in 2001 and was sold for$2.866.000.

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A river Landscape with Peasants unloading a Barge, Dordrecht beyond

Aelbert Cuyp
Oil on panel 68,8 x 90,2 cm
Private collection

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A River Landscape with a Drover herding Cattle over a Bridge and Shepherds at Rest by ruined Buildings

Aelbert Cuyp
Oil on panel 49,5 x 74,6 cm
Private collection

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Gentlemen and a Lady on a Track at the Edge of a Wood with the Artist sketching in the Foreground

Aelbert Cuyp
Oil on canvas 101 x 140 cm
Private collection

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Dordrecht Harbor by Moonlight

Aelbert Cuyp, 1644
Oil on canvas
Private collection

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Landscape with a Hunt

Aelbert Cuyp, 1650/55
Oil on canvas, 109 x 150 cm
Private collection

The painting represents a landscape with a hunt and a portrait of a youth with his tutor. This is a typical Cuyp painted in his grandest manner, and dating from the most fruitful period of his career. It is pictures of this sort that established his reputation beyond his native town Dordrecht, and that made him so popular with English (and Scottish and Irish) aristocratic collectors in the 18th century, with a wider circle of merchant-collectors in the 19th, and with American collectors in the 20th century.

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The Grote Kerk in Dordrecht from the Southwest (verso)

Aelbert Cuyp
Black chalk, gray wash, watercolored in brown and red, heigthtened with white. 13.7 x 18.9 cm
Private collection, USA.

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The Valkhof at Nijmegen from the East

Aelbert Cuyp, 1650
Oil on panel 48.3 x 74 cm
Private collection

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Note : It is strange that there is no "real" 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 native city, Dordrecht, to honor him and I hope it will be a large one.

Statue of Aelbert Cuyp in Dordrecht

ugly, ugly, ugly !!! and not on a square ?

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Famous Dutch Painters from Dordrecht, Ancient Capital of Holland

Part 8

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14. Dionys van Dongen
15. Jan Doudijn
16. Isaac van Duynen
17. Adriaen van Eemont
18. Peter Fontyn

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Note : Please do not email me with technical questions about paintings and their age and origin because I am not an expert but I only have gathered information about the Painters from the Netherlands and specially from Dordrecht.

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Dordrecht is not only known as the oldest city and ancient capital of Holland but also for the many famous painters who were born or lived in Dordrecht during the late Middle ages and later centuries.

On the next pages you can find many works from these famous painters who were responsible for many styles of paintings and they immortalized the daily life and landscapes in the 15th to 19th century. Most of their masterpieces are nowadays part of collections in museums all over the world and of which many can be seen in the local Dordrechts Museum.

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Dionys van Dongen
Dordrecht 1748 - Rotterdam 1819

Dionys van Dongen was born at Dordrecht in 1748. There is no information on him in the records but the only thing we know is that he died at Rotterdam in 1819.

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Cattle

Dionys van Dongen c. 1797
Oil on oak panel 40.3 x 37.4 cm
Wallace collection, London

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A landscape with Shepherdesses bathing

Dionys van Dongen, 1775
Oil on Panel 21.2 x 29.7 cm
Private collection

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A Dutch man-of war and small-ships off a coastline, with fishermen and a beached fishing boat on an outcrop

Dionys van Dongen, 1775
Oil on Panel 49 x 64,5 cm
Private collection

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Three cows resting in a wooded landscape

Dionys van Dongen
Oil on panel 39.4 x 48.3 cm. a pair (2)
Private collection

Sailing vessels in the distance; and three bulls in a stormy landscape, a town in the distance

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A Dutch yacht and a rowing boat in choppy waters, other shipping beyond

Dionys van Dongen
Oil on panel 32.3 x 40.4cm
Private collection

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Jan Doudijn
Dordrecht 1535 - Dordrecht 1585

Jan Doudijn got his education probably in Antwerp before he became a painter in Dordrecht from 1560 until 1585. The earliest mention of his name stems from 1560 when the Dordtse mint-masters paid him to make a group portret.

From 1564 another account is known of the mint-masters for a picture. Also is known that he made a stand-in portrait of Jacob Hallincq and his wife. From 1574 the books of the Saint Lucasgilde have survived, in which Doudijn is mentioned. The ledger of 1585 reports his funeral.

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Fire of the Nieuwe Kerk (New church) at Dordrecht in 1568

Jan Doudijn, 1568
Oil on canvas 96,5 x 133,5 cm
Dordrechts museum

Likely Doudijn made this picture by order of Adrian of Bleijenburg, lord of Zwijndrecht. In the time that the fire broke out, he was the Schout (sheriff) of Dordrecht. The church was lost but the surrounding areas were spared.

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Portrait of Dirck van Nuyssenborgh and Margaretha van Nuyssenborgh

Jan Jacobsz. Doudijn
oil on panel 63.8 x 53.6 cm
Private collection

Dirck van Nuyssenborgh (?-1566), half length, wearing black costume with black cape, lace shirt and hat, holding a sword and Portrait of Margaretha van Nuyssenborgh, née van der Merwede, Vrouwe van Zuydewijn-Capelle (1525-1593), half length, wearing a red silk dress, lace chemise, black bodice and fur wrap, and a gold chain around her waist, both inscribed with the sitters' coats-of-arms. The present unpublished works are rare examples of early Dutch 16th Century portraiture and have never been offered on the market before, as they have remained in the family, since their execution. They were probably painted on the occasion of the sitters' marriage in 1544, as Margaretha van der Merwede is likely to be 19 years old. Her husband Dirk van Nuyssenborgh was member of the Dordrecht city council and treasurer. As the sitters were citizens of Dordrecht, Jan Jacobsz. Doudijn, active from at least 1560-1585, may have executed these portraits.

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Isaac van Duynen
Dordrecht 1628 - The Hague after 1677

Van Duijnen was born in Dordrecht as son of a fish marketeer. The sale of river fish was in the 17de century one of the main economic activities of Dordrecht. He was already as a boy fettered by the enormous amounts of fish on the Dordtse fish-market. He was already early in the opportunity to closely study different types of fish.

It is not unthinkable that van Duijnen was a apprentice of Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp (1594-1652). Cuyp has painted also fishes, as for example to see is it on picture 'The fishmarket'. Van Duijnen painted not only fishes, he was also familiar with silent lives with vegetable and fruit.

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Fish still-life

Isaac van Duijnen
Oil on canvas 105,3 x 139,5 cm
Dordrechts museum

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Woman as fish seller

Isaac van Duynen
Oil on Canvas 88.5 x 75 cm
Private collection

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A still life with shrimp, grapes, cherries, peaches and a glass goblet on a partially covered table

Isaac van Duynen
Oil on Panel 38.1 x 34 cm
Private collection

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Sturgeon, lobster, turbot, salmon, oysters, plaice and haddock on a stone ledge

Isaac van Duynen
Oil on canvas 102.8 x 129.7 cm
Private collection

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Adriaen van Eemont
Dordrecht, 1627 - Dordrecht 1662

Adriaen of Eemont paints chiefly farm scenes like the brothers Isaack and Adriaen van Ostade. He painted also landscapes after he together with the scenic painter Frederick de Moucheron travelled to France and Italy in 1654-56.

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Figures in a stable

Adriaen van Eenmont
Oil on panel 26 x 33,4 cm
Dordrechts museum

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Mountain landscape with peasants

Adriaen van Eemont
Oil on canvas 54 x 65 cm
Private collection

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Tomb of the Plantii on the River Anio, near Rome with peasants on a bridge

Adriaen van Eemont
Oil on Panel 46,7 x 65,9 cm
Private collection

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Pieter Fontijn
Dordrecht 1773 - Dordrecht 1839

Pietsser Fontijn focused mainly on creating portraits and in houses with human figures. He also painted miniatures. His drawings were popular and were sought by collectors. Like many painters of Dordrecht was Fontijn member of the painters societssy Pictura.

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De novice-violist

Pietsser Fontijn
Oil on panel 59,5 x 59,2 cm
Dordrechts Museum

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Love advise

Pietsser Fontijn, 1820
Oil on panel, 39,5 x 33,2 cm
Dordrechts Museum

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A shoemaker and a cobbler at work

Pietsser Fontijn, 1824
Oil on panel 36.1 x 29.5 cm
Private collection

A lady is reading a letter nearby.

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A couple in an inn making music, a woman listening in the doorway

Pietsser Fontijn
Oil on panel 35.9 x 27.4 cm
Private collection

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A small child in a kitchen interior

Pietsser Fontijn
Oil on panel 36.3 x 29.8 cm
Private collection

The child is sitting in a high chair with a servant cleaning vegetables seated nearby.

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A small child, a man and a dog in an interior

Pietsser Fontijn, 1823
Oil on panel 43.7 x 36.2 cm a pair (2)
Private collection

A young mother seated next to a cradle in an interior listening to an old man at an open window nearby the first signed and dated 'P. Fontijn 1823' and inscibed 'Wie een mooie kat in huis heeft past op den Bontwerker' (upper centre); the second signed and dated 'P. Fontijn Maart 1823', and inscribed 'Die met een jong wijf is bezogd En een bouwvallig huis, Heeft nooit gedaan, er is altoos togt Maar zelden kragt naar kruis'.

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Famous Dutch Painters from Dordrecht Ancient Capital of Holland

Part 6

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The Cuyp family part 2

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13. Aelbert Cuyp Part 1

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Note : Please do not email me with technical questions about paintings and their age and origin because I am not an expert but I only have gathered information about the Painters from the Netherlands and specially from Dordrecht.

---

Dordrecht is not only known as the oldest city and ancient capital of Holland but also for the many famous painters who were born or lived in Dordrecht during the late Middle ages and later centuries.

On the next pages you can find many works from these famous painters who were responsible for many styles of paintings and they immortalized the daily life and landscapes in the 15th to 19th century. Most of their masterpieces are nowadays part of collections in museums all over the world and of which many can be seen in the local Dordrechts Museum.

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Aelbert Cuyp

Dordrecht 1620 - Dordrecht 1691

Aelbert Cuyp (1620-1691) is the most famous member of the Cuyp 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 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 Clauded 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.

He was buried on 15 November 1691 in the Augustijner church in Dordrecht. After his death in 1691, Cuyp's fame grew steadily. The greatest collector of his paintings was the eighteenth-century Dordrecht iron dealer and mint-master Johan van der Linden van Slingeland, who owned forty-one works by the artist. After the sale of his collection in 1785, many of these paintings entered collections in England, where Cuyp's works were greatly admired for their grandeur.

From the mid-eighteenth century onward, the enthusiasm for his paintings was so great in England and France that by 1800 no significant work by the master was left in the Netherlands. Since then, Cuyp's fame has spread even further and many of his finest works are now in American collections, among them masterpieces once owned by Van Slingeland. The present exhibition reunites more than forty of Cuyp's paintings for the first time in over two hundred years, presenting them along with some forty-five of the master's drawings.

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Museums in Europe

The Netherlands

Dordrechts museum, Dordrecht

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Resting horsemen in landscape

Aelbert Cuyp
Oil on canvas 116 x 168 cm
Dordrechts Museum, Dordrecht

Cuyp likely portrayed here two members of a well known family of Dordrecht in a landscape near Cleves. The painter got frequenter such portrait assignments.Already in his own time Cuyp had much success. In the eighteenth and nineteenth century these equestrian scenes became frantic popular in the English peerage.

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Landscape with flute playing herdsmen

Aelbert Cuyp
Oil on canvas 96 x 115,5 cm
Dordrechts Museum, Dordrecht

This picture indicates a clear step in the development of the painter. The color and exposure are not any more monochrome, but distinct southern of character.While placing large person - and animal figures in close-up as equipoise in the scenery, Cuyp went ahead on his later equestrian portraits.

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Woman in a stable interior

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1645/50
panel 66,7 x 92 cm
Dordrechts museum, Dordrecht

The woman on this painting looks towards the onlooker, while she polishes a cupper kettle. The invading light thourgh the open door, reflects a still life of vegetable, dead birds, copper and earthenware.Cows played a large role in the works of Cuyp. In the seventeenth century the cattle ranches grew more and more around Dordrecht because more land was dried from areas drowned by the St. Elisabeth flood of 1421.Wealthy families from Dordrecht financed the retaking of land, the wife of Aelbert Cuyp owned owned large much graze - and arable land in de Grote Waard around Dordrecht.

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Dutch river view

Aelbert Cuyp, early 1640s
panel 42 x 65 cm
Dordrechts museum, Dordrecht

Cuyp painted this river view at the beginning of the 1640s. The use of colors is austerely.In color use Cuyp shows kinship with the Leyden scenery painter Jan van Goyen, who worked some time in Dordrecht.

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Hilly river landscape

Aelbert Cuyp, early 1640s
panel 53 x 74,4 cm
Dordrechts Museum, Dordrecht

In the years 1640 the young Aelbert Cuyp worked in the monochrome style of Jan of Goyen.Subsequently he began to experiment with sunlight over his sceneries.

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The Ruins of the Abbey of Rijnsburg

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1643
panel 71 x 95 cm
Dordrechts Museum, Dordrecht

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View on the ruins of the Abbey of Rijnsburg

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1643
Black chalk, pencil in brown and green16 x 26 cm
Dordrechts Museum, Dordrecht

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Portrait of the duck Sijctghen

Aelbet Cuyp, 1647
Oil on panel 35 x 41,5 cm
Dordrechts museum

Life-size and lifelike Cuyp has shown the duck. Pets in the Painting of the Golden Age is not rare, but as genuine portrait of a duck this painting is unique. In the poem on the panel the duck speaks to herself about her 100 eggs per year and her high age of 20 years. In the last two line of the poem she asks the reader, after her death, to addd her death year and her ultimate age. Indeed, anno 1650 Cuyp added a few lines, stating that Sijctghen was aged 23 years.

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Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

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Landscape with cows and young herdsman

Aelbert Cuyp, 1650/1670
Oil on canvas 101 x 136 cm
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Landscape with a shepherd boy with two cows.

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A senior merchant of the Dutch East India Company, Jacob Mathieusen and his wife

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1650
Oil on canvas 138 x 208 cm
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

The merchant and his wife are dressed in the sober Dutch style. Behind them a slave is holding a parasol, known as a 'pajong'. In Asia this was a symbol of status and power.The Dutch adopted this Asian custom with the same ease as they adopted the ownership of slaves. With his cane, the merchant is pointing to the VOC fleet of ships ready to sail home for Europe. In the background lies the partially walled city of Batavia, the hub of the VOC’s operation in Asia.

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Dordrecht Viewed from the East

Aelbert Cuyp, early 1640s
Watercolor ? 19 x 44,5 cm
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

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Dordrecht Viewed from the North, with the Grote Kerk and the Groothoofdspoort

Aelbert Cuyp, early 1640s
Black chalk, gray wash. 18.7 x 46 cm
Rijksmuseum. Amsterdam

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View of Arnhem

Aelbert Cuyp, 1645/50
Black chalk, brush in yellowish green and grey, 19 x 48,6 cm
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

This view of Arnhem shows the city from the north-west. The most prominent building among all the towers and spires is the Great Church of St Eusebius just to the left of centre.

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Large River Landscape with Riders

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1655
Oil on canvas 128 x 227,5 cm
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

The location of this 'River Landscape with Riders' has been identified as the hills between Nijmegen and Cleves.In 1652, Cuyp travelled along the Rhine and into Germany.Aelbert Cuyp never visited Italy himself, yet many of his landscapes are bathed in the typical golden light of the Mediterranean. Here too, the artist has depicted warm sunlight reflected on the surface of the river. The location of this 'River Landscape with Riders' has been identified as the hills between Nijmegen and Cleves. In 1652, Cuyp travelled along the Rhine and into Germany. The sketches he made on his journey formed the basis for this painting.

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Landscape with herdsman and cattle

Aelbert Cuyp, 1650/1660
Oil on canvas 105 x 103 cm
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Landscape with herdsmen and cattle on a road along the water. In the distance a round tower.

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Portrait of a young man

Aelbert Cuyp, 1640/1660
Oil on panel 82 x 70 cm
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Bust with a feathered beret on the head, in the left hand he holds the barrel of a gun.

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River landscape with cows

Aelbert Cuyp
Oil on panel 42,5 x 72 cm
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Flat river landscape on the banks of the water some cows, the most left-wing animal is drinking.

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Mountainous landscape with the ruins of a castle

Aelbert Cuyp, 1640/1650
Oil on panel 66,5 x 91 cm
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Mountainous landscape. Left to the foreground two riders, further backwards a herdsman and shepherds with their flocks on a road along the ruins of a castle.

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Portrait of Margaretha de Geer (1585-1672)

Aelbert Cuyp, 1651
Oil on panel 73,9 x 59,5 cm
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Portrait of Margaretha de Geer, wife of Jacob Trip, with a large collar and a black cap on her head.

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Other museums in The Netherlands

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Dordrecht Viewed from the North, with the Grote Kerk

Aelbert Cuyp, early 1640s
Black chalk, gray wash. 18.6 x 50.4 cm
Stichting Collection P. en N. de Boer. Amsterdam

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Landscape in waning light

Aelbert Cuyp, 1636/1646
Oil on panel 53 x 69 cm
Bredius Museum, The Hague

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Self portrait as a boy (uncertain)

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1650
Oil on canvas 37 x 30 cm
The costume of the boy is dateable ca.1650-60.
Bredius Museum, The Hague.

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Portrait of Pieter de Roovere (1602-1652)

Aelbert Cuyp
Oil on canvas 123.5 × 154 cm
Royal Picture Gallery Mauritshuis, The Hague

Ruiterportret van Pietsser de Roovere (1602-1652), waarschijnlijk in zijn functie als opzichter van de zalmvisserij te Dordrecht.

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River-bank with Cows

Aelbert Cuyp, 1650
Oil on canvas
Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam

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Grey Horse in a Landscape

Aelbert Cuyp
Oil on canvas
Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam

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United Kingdom

The National Gallery, London

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A River Scene with Distant Windmills

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1641
Oil on oak 35.6 x 52.4 cm.
National Gallery, London

This work, showing a calm river scene with small boats and windmills on the low horizon, was painted shortly before he changed his style under the influence of Jan Both, who returned from Italy in 1641.

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Portrait of a Bearded Man

Aelbert Cuyp,1649
Oil on oak 68.9 x 60.2 cm.
National Gallery, London

This may be a portrait of Jacob Cuyp, the painter's father, with whom Aelbert trained and who was 56 in 1649. There is, however, no documented portrait of Jacob Cuyp.Aelbert Cuyp is best known for his Italianate landscapes bathed in warm sunlight. The National Gallery owns several of them, for example 'River Landscape with Horseman and Peasants'.

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The Maas at Dordrecht in a Storm

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1645-50
Oil on oak 49.8 x 74.4 cm
National Gallery, London

On the right is Dordrecht, dominated by the profile of the Grote Kerk.The horizon is very low which gives greater prominence to the ship in the foreground as well as to the dramatic sky. Storm scenes are very unusual in Cuyp's work.

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River Landscape with Horseman and Peasants

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1650-60
Oil on canvas 123 x 241 cm
National Gallery London

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, harmonizing all the elements, natural, animal and human.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.

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Peasants and Cattle by the River Merwede

Aelbert Cuyp
Oil on oak 38.1 x 50.8 cm.
National Gallery, London

On the left, in the distance, is the ruined castle of Merwede (Huis te Merwede), which is a mile to the east of Dordrecht. It was built in the 13th century and destroyed about 1420. Its ruins still stand. (see the history of Dordrecht on this website)Cuyp painted and drew the ruined castle on several occasions and the prominently displayed cows occur in a number of his other paintings.For example, the cow on the left appears in 'The Large Dort', also in the National Gallery's Collection.

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A Herdsman with Five Cows by a River

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1650/60
Oil on oak 45.4 x 74 cm.
National Gallery, London

This painting is a mature work and shows how a traditional type of composition was transformed by the artist.The scene is illuminated from the left by the warmth of the sun which sparkles on the water, highlighting the reflections of the boats and the cattle.

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A Distant View of Dordrecht, with a Milkmaid and Four Cows, and Other Figures ('The Large Dort')

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1650
Oil on canvas 157.5 x 197 cm.
National Gallery, London

The painting shows in the background the town of Dordrecht (Dort) from the south-east. The skyline is dominated by the Grote Kerk with the Vuilpoort, one of the town's water gates (demolished in 1864), beyond the windmill to the left.A similar view appears in another National Gallery painting by Cuyp, known as 'The Small Dort'. The church and the water gate are seen from another angle in 'The Maas at Dordrecht in a Storm' by Cuyp, also in the National Gallery's Collection.

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Ubbergen Castle

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1655
Oil on oak 32.1 x 54.5 cm.
National Gallery, London

Ubbergen is near Nijmegen in the Province of Gelderland. The castle, which had long been a ruin, was pulled down in 1712. Because of its partial destruction during the Spanish occupation in 1582, the 14th-century castle was seen by the Dutch as a national symbol.

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A Distant View of Dordrecht, with a Sleeping Herdsman and Five Cows ('The Small Dort')

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1651
Oil on oak 66.4 x 100 cm.
National Gallery, London

Dordrecht (Dort) is seen in the background from the south-east, with the Grote Kerk in the centre, and the Vuilpoort, one of the town's water-gates (demolished in 1864) on the left.This painting exactly repeats the view of Dordrecht seen in the so-called 'The Large Dort', also in the National Gallery's Collection.

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A Hilly River Landscape with a Horseman talking to a Shepherdess

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1655-60
Oil on canvas 135 x 201.5 cm.
National Gallery, London

This scene is inspired by the landscape along the lower Rhine. Cuyp used the warm Italian sunlight he had adopted from his colleagues who specialized in Italianate landscapes.It is an important work of Cuyp's maturity, weaknesses in the drawing of, for example, the shepherdess, are entirely consistent with Cuyp's style at that period.

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A Horseman with a Cowherd and Two Boys in a Meadow, and Seven Cows

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1655-60
Oil on canvas 80 x 106 cm.
National Gallery, London

The figures and animals in the foreground are silhouetted against a bright sunny sky. The panoramic vista that stretches before them is inspired by the landscape between Nijmegen and Cleves in the eastern part of the Netherlands.There is a drawing for the sleeping boy on a signed sheet of studies (now Amsterdam, Rijksprentenkabinet).

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A Herdsman with Seven Cows by a River

Jacob van Strij, after Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1750-1800
Oil on oak 61.4 x 90.8 cm.
National Gallery, London

This may be a copy after an unknown landscape by Cuyp, or a pastiche imitating his style. Such pastiches were painted by the 18th-century painter Jacob van Strij (1756 - 1815), who may be the artist of this picture.

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The Wallace collection, London

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A Shepherd with his Flock

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1650
Oil on panel 34.2 x 28.2 cm
Wallace Collection, London

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Passage Boat on the Maas

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1650
Oil on canvas 101.2 x 135.3 cm
Wallace Collection, London 

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The Ferry Boat

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1652-55
Oil on panel, 72 x 90 cm
Wallace Collection, London

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Shipping on the Maas, Dordrecht

Aelbert Cuyp, early 1650s
Oil on canvas 100 x 151.9 cm
Wallace Collection, London

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The Avenue at Meerdervoort

Aelbert Cuyp, early 1650s
Oil on canvas 69.8 x 99 cm
Wallace Collection, London

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Horsemen in a Landscape

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1650
Oil on panel 34.2 x 28.2 cm
Wallace Collection, London

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Royal collection, Windsor

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Evening Landscape with Horsemen and Shepherds

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1655/60
Oil on canvas
Royal Collection, Windsor

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The Negro Page

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1652
Oil on canvas, 142,8 x 226,7 cm
Royal Collection, Windsor

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The Passage boat

c.1650
Oil on canvas 124.4 x 145.0 cm
Royal Collection, Windsor

 A ‘passage boat’ is an old-fashioned word for a ferry: this one is probably the regular passenger service between Dordrecht and Rotterdam, part of the network of waterborne public transport which was such a remarkable feature of life in seventeenth-century Holland. This vessel is a pleyt – a single-mast, sprit-rigged, shallow draught, broad-hulled tub, very similar to a smalschip – adapted to carry large numbers of passengers slowly in calm inland waters. The two pleyten here are made to look as if successive views of the same vessel and show how the sail is lowered as the boat drifts towards the jetty. A drummer announces the arrival of the service and a man fends off with a bargepole. This is a remarkably large scale image of a boat, but there is nothing remarkable about the boat itself or the function it is performing. There are some burghers aboard the pleyt and the rowing-boat but no obvious dignitary; there are many ships in the background but nothing to suggest that this is a review of the Dutch fleet. What we see here is literally a daily occurrence.

The drama of presentation here does not just depend upon the isolation of the ferry and its scale. The water-skimming viewpoint means that the hull stands out against the horizon, which glows like a halo as the setting sun catches the mist coming off the sea; it also pushes the mast up into the clouds. These clouds are shaped rather like those in Rembrandt’s Three Trees (British Museum) to suggest the forms of angels or zephyrs surrounding the light of the sky. Hoogstraten later advises artists to ‘Observe the lovely gliding of the clouds, and how their drift and shapes are related to one another, because the eye of the artist must always recognise things by their essence while the common folk see only weird shapes.’

‘Peopled clouds’ were familiar from allegorical prints, like that depicting the Dutch ‘ship of state’, produced in 1620 to celebrate the Synod of Dordrecht (1618-9) and showing the Stadholder, Prince Maurice of Orange, at the tiller, surrounded by the Seven Provinces, lit from the sky by a figure of Truth holding the States Bible, while the Pope drowns. This Passage Boat appears too ordinary to be a ‘ship of state’, yet the image carries the same visionary enthusiasm. This is probably intended to be a more private allegory of salvation of the type which a spiritual person reads in the ordinary fabric of the world. It would certainly be unlikely for a contemporary viewer to look at this boat without noticing that the mast and sprit-pole make a cross>

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British Museum, Londen

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The Mariakerk in Utrecht from the Northeast

>Aelbert Cuyp
Black chalk, gray wash, water-colored in brown, yellow, green, and pink. 22 x 31 cm
The British Museum, London

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Ruins of the Huis te Merwede

>Aelbert Cuyp
Drawqing in black
The British Museum, London

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Dulwich Picture Gallery, London

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Herdsmen with Cows

Aelbert Cuyp
Oil on canvas 101.4 x 145.8 cm
Dulwich Picture Gallery, London

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A Road near a River

Aelbert Cuyp c.1660
Oil on canvas
Dulwich Picture Gallery, London

On of the last paintings made by the master.In 1658 Cuyp married a rich widow, and in the 1660s he seems to have virtually abandoned painting.

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View of a Plain

Aelbert Cuyp c.1644
Oil on panel 48 x 72 cm
Dulwich Picture Gallery, London

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Other Cities in the United Kingdom

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View on Dordrecht

Aelbert Cuyp, c. 1655
Oil on canvas, 97,8 x 137,8 cm
Iveagh Bequest, Kenwood House, London

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Dordrecht Viewed from the Northeast

Aelbert Cuyp
Black chalk, gray wash, watercolored in browmish yellow, partly brushed with gum arabic. 15.9 x 50.6 cm
Colnaghi, London

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Wooded Landscape with an Artist

Aelbert Cuyp, 1643
Oil on canvas. 98.5 x 136 cm
Wadsworth Athenaeum, Hartford

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Dordrecht from the North

Aelbert Cuyp, 1650
Oil on canvas. 68.5 x 190 cm
Ascott, The Anthony de Rothschild Collection. The National Trust.

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Landscape with Ubbergen Castle

Aelbert Cuyp
Oil on board 42.5 x 51.3 cm
National museum of Wales

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Famous Dutch Painters from Dordrecht, Ancient Capital of Holland

Part 5

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The Cuyp family part 1

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11. Jacob Gerritz Cuyp

12. Benjamin Gerritz Cuyp

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Note : Please do not email me with technical questions about paintings and their age and origin because I am not an expert but I only have gathered information about the Painters from the Netherlands and specially from Dordrecht.

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Dordrecht is not only known as the oldest city and ancient capital of Holland but also for the many famous painters who were born or lived in Dordrecht during the late Middle ages and later centuries.

On the next pages you can find many works from these famous painters who were responsible for many styles of paintings and they immortalized the daily life and landscapes in the 15th to 19th century. Most of their masterpieces are nowadays part of collections in museums all over the world and of which many can be seen in the local Dordrechts Museum.

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The Cuyp family

Cuyp is the name of a family of Dutch painters of Dordrecht, of which three members gained distinction : Benjamin Gerritz Cuyp, Jacob Gerritz Cuyp and the most famous Albaert Cuyp.

At the end of the 16th century, Countless non-Catholics fled to Holland driven by Spanish troops, which is why glazier, stained-glass artist and painter Gerrit Gerritsz. Cuyp (c. 1565-1644), the father of Jacob, moved from Venlo to Dordrecht. He was the first important artist in the Cuyp family. His son Jacob and grandson Aelbert followed in his footsteps. Both Jacob and Aelbert occupied numerous public positions in Dordrecht. Many sites within the city are associated with the Cuyp family, including the Augustijnenkerk where both Jacob and Aelbert Cuyp are buried. Aelbert often produced paintings and drawings of his native city. Dordrecht's city profile with the distinctive truncated tower of the Dordrecht Minster (Grote Kerk) and the Groothoofdspoort has remained remarkably intact.

Although Aelbert Cuyp was little known outside Dordrecht during his lifetime, international recognition of his work became evident towards the end of the 18th century, resulting in virtually his entire oeuvre being exported abroad. England was the scene of true Cuyp mania and a multitude of artists produced copies of his work. These prints and drawings, often in a large format, provide an impressive overview of Aelbert Cuyp's finest paintings.

Aelbert Cuyp has never been forgotten in Dordrecht itself as evidenced by the work of artists such as Aert Schouman and the Van Strij brothers. Abraham and Jacob van Strij not only literally copied their 17th-century predecessor, but also drew inspiration from Cuyp when creating new compositions.

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Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp

Dordrecht 1612 - Dordrecht 1652

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.

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The Angel at the grave of Christ

Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp
Oil on panel 34,5 x 27,2 cm
Dordrechts Museum

Cuyp placed with fast, flowing paintbrush how the angel took the stone away from the tomb.

 

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Interior of an Inn

Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp
Oil on panel 52,4 x 69,3 cm
Dordrechts Museum

Benjamin Cuyp painted not only numerous biblical scenes but also many batailles (equestrian fights) and themes with groups of people.

 

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The liberation of Peter

Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp
Oil on panel 74,5 x 69,9 cm
Dordrechts Museum

The picture indicates the moment whereupon the angel soak Peter, whereas the sentries are still in deep sleep. With a cluster fierce of light in the further quite dark space Cuyp aimed at all attention to Peter as the leading character. The liberation of Petrus was a popular theme in the Dutch art of painting of the seventeenth century. Benjamin Cuyp painted it at least fifteen times.

 

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The adoration of the kings

Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp
Oil on canvas 155,5 x 219 cm
Dordrechts Museum

These is one of the biggest known works of Benjamin Cuyp. In a triangle composition with a large number  of figures densely placed near each other.

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Beach scene with fish sellers

Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp
Oil on canvas 81 x 115,5 cm
Dordrechts Museum

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Adoration of the shepherds

Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp
Oil on panel 68,1 x 97,5 cm
Dordrechts Museum

Benjamin Cuyp has painted this theme more than 25 times. In this version we see rough shepherds who are likely seem to be run away from the field.

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Joseph explains the baker and the pourer their dreams

Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp
Oil on panel 73 × 62 cm
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

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The Parable of the Blind

Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp
Oil on canvas 76.5 x 70.5 cm
National museum Wales

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Anunciation to the Shepherds

Benjamin-Gerritsz Cuyp, c. 1635
Oil on panel 83.8 x 115.3 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston

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Brawl between Peasants

Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp
Previously attributed to Aelbert Cuyp
The Holburne Museum of Art, Bath

Benjamin's technique was to apply liquid paint with rapid brushstrokes. He used a limited palette of colors, brown, yellow-brown, dull greens and an occasional rust red accent. He often painted low-life genre scenes, such as this, and biblical scenes.

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The Angel Is Opening Christ's Tomb

Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp c.1640
Oil on panel 72 x 89,6 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

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Peasants in the Tavern

Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp
Oil on panel, 53 x 76 cm
Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest

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The adoration of the Pastors

Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp
Oil on panel 81 x 65 cm
Museo del Prado. Madrid

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Soldiers repairing fortifications

Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp 
Oil on canvas 101.6 x 152.1 cm
Private collection

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Parable of the blind

Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp, c. 1645
Oil on canvas
Private collection

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The Satyr and the Peasant Family

Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp 
Oil on panel, 58 x 75 cm
Private collection

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Farmers feasting before a Tavern

Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp
Oil on canvas 107 x 138 cm
Private collection

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The Raising of Lazarus

Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp
Private collection

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Beach scene at Scheveningen

Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp, early 1640s
Oil on canvas, doubled. 100 : 132 cm
Private collection

The Scheveningen beach is near The Hague, where the artist settles for some time in the early 1640s. The people's daily routines inspire him to depict the busy scene with a fish market, two horsemen, and the fishermen with their boats at low tide.

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The Adoration of the Shepherds

Benjamin Gerritsz. Cuyp
oil on panel 88.8 x 69.3 cm 
Private collection

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The Conversion of Saul

Benjamin Gerritsz. Cuyp
oil on canvas 75.5 x 92.1 cm
Private collection

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A guardroom interior with soldirs resting

Benjamin Gerritsz. Cuyp
oil on panel, circular 53.1 cm
Private collection

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A guardroom interior with soldiers drinking and smoking

Benjamin Gerritsz. Cuyp
oil on panel, oval 43.2 x 58.4 cm
Private collection

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Boors drinking and smoking in a barn

Benjamin Gerritsz. Cuyp
oil on panel 45.9 x 51.4 cm
Private collection

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Encampment of soldiers

Benjamin Gerritsz. Cuyp
oil on canvas 87.5 x 121.6 cm
Private collection

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The Adoration of the Shepherds

Benjamin Gerritsz. Cuyp
oil on panel 50.4 x 69.8 cm
Private collection

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Soldiers playing cards in a cave

Benjamin Gerritsz. Cuyp
oil on panel30.5 x 41.9 cm
Private collection

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Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp

Dordrecht 1594 - Dordrecht 1651/52

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. He was the father of Albaert Cuyp and half-brother of Benjamin Gerritsz Cuyp.

Master of an entire generation of painters Jacob Cuyp was a prominent member of the St. Luke's Guild in Dordrecht. In 1642, he was one of the four leaders when the fine painters branched off from the guild. He was the first important painter in Dordrecht and can be seen as the nestor of the Dordrecht painters. His pupils included his half-brother Benjamin, his famous son Aelbert, Paulus Lesire and Ferdinand Bol. Work by painters working in Dordrecht such as Jan Olis and Pietsser Verelst also appears to have been influenced by Cuyp. It is thought that a number of young Dordrecht painters such as Nicolaes Maes and Ferdindand Bol moved to Amsterdam to become pupils of Rembrandt on Jacob Cuyp's recommendation.

Jacob Cuyp was an extremely versatile painter and drawer. In addition to portraits, he produced many history pieces, still lifes and genre pieces. He was a pupil of Abraham Bloemaert and some of his works were distinctly influenced by this Utrecht master and were produced in Caravaggian style, as was popular in Utrecht at the time. Jacob Cuyp would also have been familiar with the work of the Amsterdam painter Nicolaes Moeyaert.

While Aelbert Cuyp is nowadays considered as one of the greatest landscape painters, in the 17th century it was his father who ranked among the most important painters in Dordrecht for many years.

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Portrait of Michiel Pompe van Slingeland

Jacob Gerritz Cuyp, 1649
Oil on canvas 106,5 x 78 cm
Dordrechts Museum

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Parrot Tulips

Jacob Gerritz Cuyp, 1638
Oil on panel, 38 x 76 cm
Dordrechts Museum

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Paul at his writing table

Jacob Gerritz Cuyp. 1627
Oil on canvas 85,2 x 102,9 cm
Dordrechts Museum

The old man seems to stop writing a letter as if he is interrupted by the onlooker. Cuyp involved the spectator on this manner directly in the picture. Letter, books and sword make clearly that these is the apostle Paul.

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The regretful Peter

Jacob Gerritz Cuyp
Oil on canvas on panel 71,2 x 99,3 cm
Dordrechts Museum

Cuyp has a number of religious works on his name. In this early picture of the mourning Petrus in a light incidence This picture is a pendant of a painting with the apostle Paulus.

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Portrait of Anthonis Repelaer

Jacob Gerritz Cuyp, 1647
Oil on panel 71,6 x 58,5 cm
Dordrechts Museum

Jacob Cuyp received many portrait assignments from the Repelaer family, an influential Dordts race. Anthonis Repelaer (1591 -1652) was as beer brewer and administrator of the VOC and WIC a successful entrepreneur. He fulfilled various functions in his town administration and put oneself in as deacon and orphan maestro.

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Study of plants

Jacob Gerritz Cuyp ca. 1640
black chalk, pencil in grey 17,9 x 25,4 cm
Dordrechts Museum

This drawing was for centuries considered as made by Aelbert Cuyp.

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Shepherdess wit child in a landscape

Jacob Gerritz Cuyp, 1627
Oil on canvas 125 x 174 cm
Dordrechts Museum

Cuyp combines in this picture his specialities: He showed that he not only persons, but also animals, plant and a scenery can be produced.

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The fish market

Jacob Gerritz Cuyp, 1627
Oil on canvas 110,4 x 122,2 cm
Dordrechts Museum

The portrayal of fishes and of coins - the currencies in the center of the painting can be an indication that this painting is  produced by order of tthe fishers guild. At the richt site on the background of the picture Cuyp portrayed himself.

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Three children of the Francken family in a landscape

Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp, 1635
olieverf op doek, 130 x 198 cm
Museum Boijmans-Van Beuningen, Rotterdam

These children were from a rich family, what we can see on the pricey outfits, fully according to the fashion of those time. The girl to the left carries a ring with a skull. She died before the picture was ready.

In those days many children died young, because of that its possible why the age of the girl (2 ¼) is scratched in the tree. Of the other children only the age in years is mentioned (6 and 8).

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Portrait of Abel Tasman, his wife and daughter

Jacob Gerritsz Cuyp, 1637
Oil on canvas 106.7 x 132.1 cm
National Library of Sydney, Australia

Tasman is best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the VOC (United East India Company). His was the first known European expedition to reach the islands of Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania) and New Zealand and to sight the Fiji islands, which he did in 1643. Tasman, his navigator Visscher, and his Merchant Gilsemans also mapped substantial portions of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

 Tasmania and New Holland (now called Australia), the island of Tasmania is named after him.

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The Grape Grower

Jacob Gerritz Cuyp, 1628
Oil on canvas
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg

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Portrait of a Child

Jacob Gerritz Cuyp
Oil on wood, 37 x 32 cm
Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt

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Portrait of a boy

Jacob Gerritsz Cuyp
Louvre Museum Paris

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Portrait of a girl

Jacob Gerritsz Cuyp
Louvre Museum Paris

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Portrait of a Young Baron

Jacob Gerritsz Cuyp
Amiens Musée de Picardie

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Johan van Oldenbarneveldt

Jacob Gerritsz Cuyp
Tabla. 78 x 60 cm
Museo del Prado. Madrid

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Portrait of a Family in a Landscape

Jacob and Albeart Cuyp, 1641
Oil on canvas 61 x 96 cm
The Israel Museum, Jerusalem

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Portrait of a gentleman, aged 47, bust-length, in black costume with a flat collar of white lace, a black coat and leather gloves

Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp, 1645
oil on panel 74.4 x 5.2 cm
Private collection

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Double portrait of a father and son, the gentleman, half-length, holding a black hat in his right hand, his son, aged 11, also holding a black hat in his right hand

Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp, 1644
oil on panel  109.8 x 76.3 cm
Private collection

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Peasants in an Interior

Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp
Oil on Panel 33.7 x 25.4 cm
Private collection

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Annunciation to the Shepherds

Jacob Gerritz Cuyp
Oil on panel 33 x 45 cm
Private collection

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Portrait of child holding a bird

Jacob Gerritsz Cuyp, 1636
Oil on canvas 114 x 91 cm
Private collection

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Portrait of Maria Stricke van Scharlaken as a shepherdess

Jacob Gerritsz Cuyp, 1650
Oil on Pane 83.2 x 64.8 cm
Private collection

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Two jaguars

Jacob Gerritsz Cuyp, c. 1639
Oil on Panel 43.2 x 55.3 cm
Private collection

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Three children in a landscape

Jacob Gerritsz Cuyp, 1639
Oil on panel 97 x 116.5 cm
Private collection

This enchanting portrait depicts three children, with a lamb and a black and white puppy. The youngsters are shown full length against the backdrop of a peaceful landscape, where sheep and cattle graze. The boy and two girls are fancifully dressed in the guise of shepherds and shepherdesses. The older girl is seated, wearing a golden-yellow dress, with square-cut neckline and laced bodice, tied at the waist with a stripy sash. In one hand she holds a broad-brimmed straw hat, bedecked with pink roses and, in the other, a branch of leaves, upon which the lamb nibbles delicately.

Her younger sister stands on her right, clad in a similar outfit in green, with a red sash and a posy of flowers in her hair. Their rosy-cheeked brother, who is dressed in a purple, knee-length garment and Roman-style sandals on his feet, stands close beside the lamb, with his hand on its woolly neck. Each child bears a crook, the traditional attribute of shepherds. On the ground close to the viewer, appear four fragile bubbles, one of which has already partially evaporated.

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A Shepherd

Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp, 1638
oil on panel 74.3 x 59.7 cm
Private collection

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Portrait of Johanna van Diemen, aged 61, half-length, in a cartwheel ruff with a coat of arms

Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp, 1647
oil on panel  74.3 x 60 cm
Private collection

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Famous Dutch Painters from Dordrecht, Ancient Capital of Holland

Part 3

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6. Ferdinand Bol
7. Jacob Gerritsz Bornwater
8. Adriaan van der Burg

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Note : Please do not email me with technical questions about paintings and their age and origin because I am not an expert but I only have gathered information about the Painters from the Netherlands and specially from Dordrecht.

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Dordrecht is not only known as the oldest city and ancient capital of Holland but also for the many famous painters who were born or lived in Dordrecht during the late Middle ages and later centuries.

On the next pages you can find many works from these famous painters who were responsible for many styles of paintings and they immortalized the daily life and landscapes in the 15th to 19th century. Most of their masterpieces are nowadays part of collections in museums all over the world and of which many can be seen in the local Dordrechts Museum.

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Ferdinand Bol
Dordrecht 1616 - Amsterdam 1680

Ferdinand Bol was born in Dordrecht in 1616 as son of a chirurgijn. He was a pupil of Jacob Gerritz Cuyp at Dordrecht until 1635. From the age of twenty he moved to Amsterdam and studied in Rembrandts studio for several years, the master strongly influenced the development of the young artist. Bol stayed and worked in Amsterdam till the end of his life in 1680; he painted portraits, historical compositions and sometimes still-life's. In his early works the powerful authority of Rembrandt is seen, but already in 1650s he changed his palette to a lighter one.

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The Paintings of Ferdinand Bol

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Wigbold Slicher and Elisabeh Spiegel

Ferdinand Bol, 1656
Oil on canvas 118 x 157 cm
Dordrechts museum

Portrait of Wigbold Slicher and Elisabeth Spiegel as Paris and Venus.

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Biblical couple in a landscape

Ferdinand Bol
Oil on canvas 102,3 x 91,8 cm
Dordrechts museum

In his early years Bol used the style of painting as used by Rembrandt. From this time dates this masterpiece called Biblical couple. The landscape on this painting he used from his master in Dordrecht Jacob Gerritz Cuyp.

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Self portrait with baret

Ferdinand Bol, 1646
Oil on canvas 102 x 85,5 cm
Dordrechts museum

Self portrait of Ferdinand Bol on the age of thirty years, Four years before he had left Rembandt to work for himself, but the style of his master Rembrandt is evident.

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Portrait of Michiel Adriaansz de Ruyter

Ferdinand Bol, 1667
Oil on canvas, 238 x 157 cm
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Michiel de Ruyter (1607-1676) is one of the most famous admirals in Dutch history. De Ruyter is most famous for his role in the Anglo-Dutch Wars of the 17th century.

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Aeneas at the Court of Latinus

Ferdinand Bol, c.166-63
Oil on canvas
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

This busy scene is actually a prize giving ceremony. The man standing n the platform is Aeneas, a Trojan prince and the legendary founder of Rome. On his long voyage Aeneas kept up morale among the men by organizing occasional competitions. Here he rewards one of the captains who has just won a race between the ships. A slave presents the prize, magnificent suite of armor. Aeneas' fleet is anchored in the distance.

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Consul Titus Manlius Torquatus Beheading His Son

Ferinand Bol, c.1661-63
Oil on canvas
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

A dramatic scene: a father ordering his son to be beheaded because he disobeyed an order. The father, on the platform, is the Roman consul Titus Manlius Torquatus. He had ordered that no officer should engage the enemy. When his son, Titus Manlius, failed to obey the consul had to punish him. The dead youth is ling in the foreground. The blood flows from his neck as the executioner displays the severed head to the astonished onlookers.

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Elisabeth Jacobsdr. Bas

Ferdinand Bol, c.1640
Oil on canvas
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

An old woman is sitting quietssly in her hair. On the table beside her is a book. She is wearing a kind of two-piece: a black dress and matching coat trimmed with fur, which is draped elegantly over the chair. In her hand is a handkerchief. This type of costume was fashionable around 1640 but the large ruff and the cap with wing flaps were out-of-date by this time. Nevertheless, the older generation tended to ignore the shims of fashion and continued to wear these garments.

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Maria Rey, Wife of Roelof Meulenaer

Ferdnand Bol, 1650
Oil on canvas
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

A woman is standing timidly, her hands folded, on a terrace. Behind her is a balustrade that culminates in a classical column. The terrace looks out over a wooded landscape. The woman is wearing a triple starched collar, wide around the neck, a black cap with pearls, bracelets around her wrists and pearl earrings. In her hand she has a fashionable fan.

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Roelof Meulenaer

Ferdinand Bol, 1650
Oil on canvas
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

The man is looking straight at the viewer, self-assured, even a little disdainful. He is leaning against a balustrade over which his cloak is draped. In the background is a wooded landscape, suggesting perhaps that the man, Roelof Meulenaer, is on the terrace of a Country estate. His pose, hand on hip, turning outward, is a gesture normally reserved for royalty.

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Self Portrait

Ferdinand Bol, c.1667
Oil on canvas, 128 x 104 cm
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Bol present himself as the archetypical man of quality holding a rattan cane in his right hand as he leans nonchalantly on a statue of sleeping Cupid. Posed in a full-bottomed wig and an expensive house coat before a stately column on a base, it is a form of presentation which does not differ from the way in which Bol portrayed his rich clientele.

The canvas is still in its original lime wood frame with auricular carving and festoons which Bol undoubtedly ordered himself.

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The Peace Negotiations between Claudius Civilis and Cerealis

Ferdinand Bol, c.1660-70
Oil on canvas 122 x 112,5 cm
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Standing on opposite sides of a demolished bridge are two warriors. They re negotiating across the divide. The man on the right is Cerealis, recognizable as a Roman from the standard with an eagle behind him. His men are pictured higher up. The man opposite him is Claudius Civilis, a Batavian. His followers are refreshing themselves in the river in the foreground. Fame (Fama) floats in the sky above. She is crowning the two leaders with laurel wreaths.

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Venus and Adonis

Ferdinand Bol, C.1657
Oil on canvas 168x 230 cm
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

The story of Venus and Adonis is taken from the tenth book of Ovid's Metamorphoses. Venus, the goddess of love, becomes enamored of the beautiful young huntsman, Adonis. In Bol's painting Venus and the young Cupid try in vain to prevent Adonis from going hunting, as the goddess has had a premonition that the hunting party will have fatal consequences, and indeed the hunter is killed by a wild boar.

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Pharaoh's daughter finds Moses in a rush basket

Ferdinand Bol
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

The daughter of the Pharaoh with her company ladies, including a wench at the waterfront at the baths. Two women with fish basket from the water. Part of a group of five works made for the house on the Nieuwe Gracht 6 at Utrecht.

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Portrait of a man, sitting with outstretched right hand

Ferdinand Bol
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

In the background a colonnade and a statue of Apollo. The identity of the chairman is unknown, proposed names are: Jacob van Campen, Artus Quellinus and Louis Trip.

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Allegory on education

Ferdinand Bol
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

Margarita Trip (1640-1714), her sister Anna Maria Trip (1652-1681) teaching. To the left two Putti a great book. In the background a peacock and a fountain with a putto on a dolphin. Right the shield of Minerva.

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Portrait of Engel de Ruyter, son of Michiel de Ruyter (1649-1683)

Ferdinand Bol, 1669
Oil on canvas 131 x 112 cm
Mauritshuis, The Hague

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The offering of gifts for building Salomon's Temple [detail]

Ferdinand Bol, c 1669
Oil on canvas. 407 × 415 cm
The Hague, Peace Palace, Ferdinand Bol Room

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A Lady with a Fan

Ferdinand Bol, about 1645-50
Oil on canvas 83.5 x 69.5 cm
The National Gallery London

Both the style and the costume (particularly the collar) suggest a date in the second half of the 1640s. At that time Bol's portraiture still displayed the strong influence of Rembrandt's work.

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An Astronomer

Ferdinand Bol, 1652
Oil on canvas 127 x 135 cm
The National Gallery, London

On the table is a celestial globe, and behind it a terrestrial one. The pose of the figure and his abstracted manner indicate that the painting may belong to the visual tradition of Melancholia, made famous by D rer's work, in which it was suggested that a scholar' research would inevitably lead him to an awareness of the futility of his endeavors in the face of death. The medallion in the centre of the man's belt may show a Roman emperor.

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The Toper

Ferdinand Bol, c. 1650
Oil on canvas 89.2 x 82.3 cm
Wallace collection, London

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Louise-Marie Gonzaga de Nevers (1611-1667), Queen of Poland

Ferdinand Bol
Oil on Canvas 126.5 x 102 cm
Marei von Saher, the heir of Jacques Goudstikker
Bruce Museum, Greenwich

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David's Dying Charge to Solomon

Ferdinand Bol, 1643
Oil on canvas
National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin, Ireland

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Jacob's Dream

Ferdinand Bol
Oil on canvas, 128,5 x 97 cm
Gemäldegaleri, Dresden

In his later career Bol turned to a more courtly style anda lighter tonality, the faces of his models look rather pasty, and the highlights on the red velvet he loved to paint appear to have been dusted lightly with talcum powder. In a subject picture like the Jacob's Dream Bol captures something of the mood and tender character of Rembrandt's art of this period; but the elegant and noble attitude of the angel, with its long limbs and aristocratic gesture, is foreign to Rembrandt.

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Portrait of a Man

Ferdinand Bol
Oil on canvas, 87 x 72 m
Alte Pinakothek, Munich

Ferdinand Bol entered Rembrandt's studio about 1636-37 and left Rembrandt around 1642 when he began working independently in Amsterdam where he settled for the rest of his life. His early painted portraits are very similar to the commissioned ones Rembrandt made in the late thirties and early forties and in them he successfully incorporates aspects o the transparent chiaroscuro the older master develops during these years.

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Governors of the Wine Merchant's Guild

Ferdinand Bol
Oil on canvas, 193 x 305 cm
Alte Pinakothek, Munich

Te many official commissions which Bol received for group portraits of governing bodies are evidence tat he was one of the most successful artists of his day.

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Bacchus and Ariadne

Ferdinand Bol,166
Oil on canvas. 160.5 x 182.5 cm
The Hermitage, St-Petersburg Russia

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Dead Game

Ferdinand Bol, 1646
Oil on canvas. 99 x 83 cm
The Hermitage, St. Petersburg, Russia

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Moses and Jethro

Ferdinnd Bol, c.1655-1656
Oil on canvas. 81 x 66 cm
The Hermitage, St-Petersburg Russia

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Esther and Mardochai

Ferdinand Bol, c.1650
Oil on canvas. 151 x 181 cm
The Hermitage, St-Petersburg Russia

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Portrait of an Officer

Ferdinand Bol, 1650s
Oil on canvas. 90 x 72 cm
The Hermitage, St-Petersburg Russia

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Portrait of a Scholar Sitting at the Table

Ferdinand Bol, c.1650
Oil on canvas. 122 x 98 cm
The Hermitage, St-Petersburg Russia

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Young Woman at a Window

Ferdinand Bol,late 1640s
Oil on canvas. 100 x 84.5 cm
The Hermitage, St-Petersburg Russia

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Portrait of an Old Woman with a Book

Ferdinand Bol, 1651
Oil on canvas. 129 x 100 cm
The Hermitage, St-Petersburg Russia

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Judah and Tamar

Ferdinand Bol, 1644
Oil on canvas 123.2 x 172.4 cm
Private collection

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Elijah Fed by an Angel

Ferdinand Bol, 1660-63
Oil on canvas, 135 x 153 cm
Private collection

The composition and style of this painting reveal the influence of Jacob Jordaens.

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Portrait of a Lady

Ferdinand Bol, 1650-54
Oil on canvas, 47 x 34 cm
Private collection

This painting is a bust-length version by Bol of the figure of a woman in his Couple in a Landscape, now in the Court of Justice, The Hague. The sitters of the double portrait have been identified as Hendrick Trip and his first wife, Cecilia Godin.

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Petronella Elias (1648–1667) with a Basket of Fruit

Ferdinand Bol, 1657
Oil on canvas 80.3 x 66 cm
Private collection

Bol was a pupil of Rembrandt in the late 1630s, and followed his teacher's style until the middle of the century. During the 1650s Bol became established in Amsterdam societssy, enjoyed considerable success as a portraitist and history painter, and adopted a more colorful, fluid, and Flemish style. The elaborate silver basket in the present picture appears again in a double portrait of 1661 in Antwerp.

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Moses with the Tablets of the Law

Ferdinand Bol
oil on canvas 80.7 x 65.9 cm
Private collection

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Portrait of a family, An allegory of Education

Ferdinand Bol
oil on canvas 182.5 x 136.5 cm
Private collection

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Portrait of a lady, half-length, in a white satin dress

Ferdinand Bol
oil on canvas 109.2 x 90.2 cm
Private collection

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The angel appearing to Elijah

Ferdinand Bol
oil on canvas 162 x 178 cm
Private collection

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Venus and Cupid

Ferdinand Bol, 1658
oil on canvas 114.3 x 91.5 cm
Private collection

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Man with a book

Ferdinand Bol, 1644
oil on canvas 85 x 70 cm
Private collection

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Jacob Gerritsz Bornwater

Dordrecht c.1520 - Dordrecht after 1581

About Jacob Bornwater not much is known. He is several times mentioned as a member of the Dordtse Saint Lucasgilde.

In the year 1574, 1579-80 and 1580 - 81. Bornwater painted several religious scenes.

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Crucifixion of Christ

Jacob Gerrits Bornwater, 1554
Panel, 60 x 40 cm
Dordrechts Mueum

Jacobus Bornwater Dordracenus Pictor painted me pingebat [Jacob Bornwater painter from Dordrecht me] 1554' states left below the picture. A signed and dated religious work from the 16th century is generally rare and in Dordrecht unique. In one painting are here different moments from the crucifixion of Christ unified. Bornwater painted a luxuriance on figures, animals and narrative details, in crisp colors. The picture was supposedly this middle pane of a three-paneled picture. It is stated in Matthijs Balens Beschrijvinge of the Stadt Dordrecht (1677). The panel was then possessed by the Heilige Geesthuis (Sacred Spirit house), a hospital that stood on the place where now the Dordrechts Museum stands.

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St. Jerome in his study

Jacob Gerrits Bornwater, c.1540
Oil on Panel 80 x 58.5 cm
Private collection

The 4th-century Saint Jerome was one of the four Fathers of the Church, and is often represented in the Renaissance. He was famous for the Vulgate - the translation of the Bible into Latin - and is often depicted in his study.

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Adriaan van der Burg

Dordrecht 1693 - Dordrecht 1733

Adrian van der Burg was an apprentice of Arnold Houbraken. In 1709/10 he joined Arnold Houbraken who moved to Amsterdam. Vander Burg returned to Dordrecht in 1714 and on 24 November 1715 he married at Dordrecht. Aert Schouman was his apprentice and should became more famous then his master.

Van der Burg was known as portrait painter. The Duke van Arenberg let him come to Brussels in 1728to paint his portrait. Also in Dordrecht he got assignments, in particular from regent families.

He was only 40 ears of age when he suddenly died in 1733.

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Self portrait with his wife

Adriaan van der Burg, 1729
copper, 49 x 39 cm
Dordrechts Museum

Van der Burg was known to contemporaries as a gifted portraitist of important families. Van de Berg was also known as someone with a rather riotous living. This self-portrait at the age of 36, probably with his wife, shows his painterly qualities. The stylish decorative character and the colors are clearly 18th century.

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Sleeping woman

Adriaan van der Burg
panel 32 x 41 cm
Dordrechts Museum

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Paradise landscape with Adam and Eve

Adriaan van der Burg
Oil on Wood 38 x 29.5 cm
Private collection

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Family portrait

Adriaan van der Burg, 1716
Oil on Copper 85 x 74 cm
Private collection

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A lute player

Adriaan van der Burg
Oil on panel 14 x 12 cm
Private collection

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Famous Dutch Painters from Dordrecht, Ancient Capital of Holland

Part 4

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9. Abraham van Calraet
10. Reynier Covijn

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Note : Please do not email me with technical questions about paintings and their age and origin because I am not an expert but I only have gathered information about the Painters from the Netherlands and specially from Dordrecht.

---

Dordrecht is not only known as the oldest city and ancient capital of Holland but also for the many famous painters who were born or lived in Dordrecht during the late Middle ages and later centuries.

On the next pages you can find many works from these famous painters who were responsible for many styles of paintings and they immortalized the daily life and landscapes in the 15th to 19th century. Most of their masterpieces are nowadays part of collections in museums all over the world and of which many can be seen in the local Dordrechts Museum.

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Abraham van Calraet
Dordrecht 1642 - Dordrecht 1722

Calraet or Kalraet, baptized on 12 October 1642 in Dordrecht, the eldest son of Pietsser Jansz. van Calraet (c. 1620-1681), a woodcarver and one of six artist brothers, of whom Barendt (1649-1737), and possibly Abraham himself, studied under Alaert Cuyp. He was first the pupil of the Huppe brothers Aemilius and Samuel, sculptors in Dordrecht, and subsequently practiced as a wood-carver and as a painter of still-life, stable scenes, landscapes with horses, and some portraits. In 160 he married in Dordrecht a daughter of the painter C. Bisschop. He was buried in Dordrecht on 12 June 1722.

According to Houbraken, Abraham was taught by the Dordrecht sculptors Huppe, although nothing is known of his activity as a sculptor. Houbraken lso stated that Abraham learnt to paint figures and fruit and that his brother Barendt van Calraet (1649-1737), who specialized at first in horse paintings but later imitated the Rhine landscapes of Herman Saftleven, was a pupil of Aelbert Cuyp.

The known signed works by Barendt confirm this. A painting of two horses in a stable, initialed APK (Rotterdam, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen), indicates that Abraham, too, must have been well acquainted with Cuyp and provides the basis for identifying Abraham's painting style. A large number of landscapes with horses, paintings of livestock in stables and still-lifes, all initialed A.C. and formerly attributed to Aelbert Cuyp, are now generally considered to be the work of van Calraet, although many o these are in fact copies after him.

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Woodsy landscape with animals and horses

Abraham van Calraet panel 42,25 x 59,7 cm
Dordrechts Museum

Two equestrians, a man and a woman, driving by a woodsy environment shone on with the sun shines on the hills. The equestrians and their dogs overtake a farmer with cows and sheeps, while on the opposite side of the path a small party persons is looking.

Calraet derived not only motives from Aelbert Cuyp but also on other painters, under who the famous horse painter Philips Wouwerman (1619-1668).

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Landscape with equestian by evening light

Abraham van Calraet
panel 47,5 x 56,8 cm
Dordrechts museum

Because of the monogram A.C. on the right-hand corner of the painting it was for a long time also thought as a work of Aelbert Cuyp.

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Man, woman and child

Abraham van Calraet
panel 91,4 x 154,1 cm
Dordrechts museum

Man, woman and a kid on a table, whereupon lies cattle and vegetables.

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Two oxen on a farm

Abraham van Calreat
Oil on panel 39.5 x 55.5 cm
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

On the foreground a couple of Doves rummage.

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Landscape with fighting equestrians

Abraham van Calreat
Oil on panel 50 x 65.5 cm
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

In a hill scenery at the bank of a river two quarelling groups equestrians met each other.

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Officers and townsfolk at an encampment outside Breda

Abraham van Calraet, c. 1670/80
Oil on panel 50.7 x 52.9 cm
National Museum Paleis 't Loo, Apeldoorn

The scene probably depicts the Dutch encampment during the siege in 1637. As a comparison suggests with the picture of Stadtholder Frederik Hendrik on horseback outside Breda. This work was probably painted for the clientele who could hardly remember the Eighthy Years War.

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Still-life with Peaches and Grapes

Abraham van Calreat c. 1680
Oil on canvas
Mauritshuis, The Hague

Abraham van Calraet was Aelbert Cuyp's principal seventeenth follower. Confusion between the two is compounded by the signature 'A.C.' found on van Calraet's views of Dordrecht, pictures f horsemen, and still-lifes. it is sometimes erroneously accepted as Aelbert Cuyp's own monogram.

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The Interior of a Stable

Abraham van Calreat c.1690
Oil on Oak panel 39.3 x 57.3 cm
National Gallery London

Stable interiors of this type were painted by Calraet in imitation of pictures by Philips Wouwermans, such as 'The Interior of a Stable' also in the National Gallery's Collection. Trough the archway a family can be seen begging for alms. The surface of the picture is considerably worn so that the wood grain shows, notably in the sky.

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Scene on the Ice outside Dordrecht

Abraham van Calreat c. 1665
Oil on panel 33.5 x 57.5 cm
Dordrechts museum, borrowed from the
Natioal Gallery London

Dordrecht is seen here from the north, across the river Maas. In the left background is the Groothoofdspoort, a watergate which still survives, although it was altered in the late 17th century. To the right of it is the the Dordrecht Minster (Grote Kerk) which is unchanged today. Party because of the parallels between the city views in this picture and in works by Albaert Cuyp, the painting has in the past been attributed to him. This panel was part of a collection of paintings who were auctioned in 1785 and sold to England. In 2002 the painting came back to Dordrecht after 200 years and is since then borrowed from the National Gallery of London.

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A Boy holding a Grey Horse

Abraham van Calreat
Oak panel 36.2 x 32.4 cm
National Gallery London

This picture is attributed to Calraet because of its closeness in style to signed paintings by him. It does, however, bear a false Cuyp signature and in the past has been catalogued as his work. The horse in particular appears in pictures by both artists. It''s not unusual for paintings by Calraet to be mistaken for works by Cuyp. There are several versions of this subject, including one (London, Wallace Collection) which is also falsely signed as the work of Cuyp.

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A Brown and White Skewbald Horse with a Saddle beside it

Abraham van Calreat c.1680
Oil on Oak panel 34.2 x 44.4 cm
National Gallery London

Like many other works by the artist, this painting was once attributed to Aelbert Cuyp, but it is related to paintings which are now considered to be by Calraet, for example 'Stable Interior with Two Dapple-Grey Horses' (Rotterdam, Museum Boymans-van Beuningen). The horse appears, with variations, in the Rotterdam picture.

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Two Horsemen at a Tavern

Abraham van Calraet
Oil on oak panel 38.8 x 54.8 cm
Wallace collection, London

Inscription: 'A.cuyp' Originally bought as a work by Albaert Cuyp, but later recognized as a work by Calraet.

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Cattle on a River Bank

Abraham van Calraet
Oil on oak panel 34.3 x 53.8 cm
Wallace collection, London

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Halt at an Inn

Abraham van Calraet
Oil on oak panel Image 38.7 x 58.7 cm
Wallace collection, London

Inscription: '.cuyp' Originally thought to be a work by Cuyp, but later recognised as a work by Calraet. Although there is still some doubt.

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Horses tied to a Tree

Abraham van Calreat
Oil on oak panel 45 x 54 cm
Wallace collection, London

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The Start

Abraham van Calraet
Oil on panel 32 x 47 cm
National gallery of Scotland

This painting is typical of Van Calraet’s work, particularly in the depiction of dogs and horses. It shows two riders and their dogs preparing to leave an inn and ‘start’ their journey. A wreath and a pewter wine jug hanging from the pole attached to the building indicate that this is an inn; the lady to the left wearing red is the inn-keeper. One man is mounted with his plumed hat and gloves on and clearly wishes to leave, while the other gestures to his companion to enjoy another glass (‘roemer’) of wine. Until the twentietssh century, this picture was thought to be by Aelbert Cuyp, as it emulates his work both in its composition and in its use of light.

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Huntsmen on horseback with a tower beyond; and Huntsmen on horseback in a landscape, a pair

Abraham van Calraet
Oil on copper 23.2 x 19.7 cm
Private collection

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Dordrecht with the Apple Market and the Oude Haven (Old Harbour)

Abraham van Calraet, before 1694
Oil o panel 66 x 102 cm
Private collection

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A Horse and Cows in a Landscape

Abraham van Calraet
Oil on panel, 28 x 40 cm
Private collection

There is a false signature "A. cuyp" in the lower right corner of the painting.

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A cockerel and a hen

Abraham van Calraet
oil on panel 48.2 x 59.8 cm
Private collection

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An evening river landscape with a cowherd and cows y the edge of a copse, a bridge and ruins beyond

Abraham Pietssersz. van Calraet
oil on canvas 71.7 x 97.4 cm
Private collection

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A cavalry skirmish

Abraham van Calraet
oil on canvas 135.9 x 161.9 cm
Private collection

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Reynier Covyn

Antwerp 1631 - Dordrecht 1681

Reynier Covyn was born in Antwerp and moved to Dordrecht about 1650. His older brother was Israel Covyn who was a member of the Dortse Brotherhood of Fine-painters.

Covijn was a pupil of Nicolaes Maes and became a specialist in painting kitchen interiors.

 

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Interior of a kitchen

Reynier Covyn
Oil on panel 36,3 x 41 cm

A kitchen girl pours a sauce over the fish in the scale standing on a stove. On the background we see a view to a room with a covered table. That motive is clearly derived from the perspective views of Nicolaes Maes.

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Famous Dutch Painters from Dordrecht, Ancient Capital of Holland

Part 1

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1. Bartholomeus Assteyn
2. Cornelis Bisschop
3. Abraham Bisschop
4. Frans van den Blijk

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Note : Please do not email me with technical questions about paintings and their age and origin because I am not an expert but I only have gathered information about the Painters from the Netherlands and specially from Dordrecht.

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 Dordrecht is not only known as the oldest city and ancient capital of Holland but also for the many famous painters who were born or lived in Dordrecht during the late Middle ages and later centuries.

 On the next pages you can find many works from these famous painters who were responsible for many styles of paintings and they immortalized the daily life and landscapes in the 15th to 19th century. Most of their masterpieces are nowadays part of collections in museums all over the world and of which many can be seen in the local Dordrechts Museum

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Bartholomeus Assteyn
Dordrecht 1607 - Dordrecht 1677

Bartholomeus Assteyn was the son of a painter from Gent, Abraham Bartholomeusz. In 1631 he became, like his father, a member of the Sint Lucas-guild in Dordrecht. His last painting is dated 1669. Assteyn lived with his family in the Vriesestraat in Dordrecht. In 1677, the year of his dead, an inventory list was made of his belongings and the conclusion can be made that his family was not wealthy. Assteyn was a productive painter who produced many not expensive works.

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Still life with flowers, shells and a path

Bartholomeus Assteyn,1631

Oil on panel 43,3 x 34 cm

Dordrechts Museum

The flowers are all realistic rendered though this combination of flowers are from different seasons (Roses and Tulips). The imperial crown in this still life is really the crown of this composition. This composition and the details are inspired on the work of Johannes Bosschaert.

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Still-Life

Bartholomeus Assteyn,1635

Oil on panel 56 x 41 cm

Private collection

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Grapes, peaches on a porcelain plate, with other fruit on a edge, and a large white and a tortoiseshell butterfly

Bartholomeus Assteyn, 1641

Oil on Panel  59,6 x 84 cm

Private collection

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Still life with fruit and flowers in a basket

Bartholomeus Assteyn, 1629

Oil on Panel 52.5 x 67.5 cm

Private collection

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Still Life of Flowers on a Stone Ledge

Bartholomeus Assteyn

Oil on Panel

Private collection

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Cornelis Bisschop

Dordrecht 1630 - Dordrecht 1674

Corneli Bisschop was a pupil of Ferdinand Bol in Amsterdam. In 1653 he returned to Dordrecht, and became an artist of international allure. In 1674 art biographer Arnold Houbraken mention Bisschop as painter at the royal court of Denmark. The French king Louis XIV was also a client of Bisschop.

Many of his paintings re inspired on the work of Nicolaes Maes, Ferdinand Bol and Rembrandt.

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Self portrait

Cornelis Bisschop, 1668

Oil on canvas 117 x 98,6 cm

Dordrechts Museum

On this painting Bisschop enfolds a second painting, an aspect of the 17th century way of painting called 'net-echte' He enfolds a painted curtain in a painting.

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Interior

Cornelis Bisschop, 1660

Oil on panel 58,5 x 74,2 cm

Dordrechts Museum

In this interior with a young boy by a cradle lies the domestic atmosphere of the 17th century.

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Mercurius and Argus

Cornelis Bisschop

Oil on canvas 99,4x 126,5 cm

Dordrechts Museum

Bisschop was probably inspired by a sketch of Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, who, together witch Ferdiand Bol, was a pupil of Renbrandt. They probably med at home by Ferdinand Bol.

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Allegory on the Raid on the Medway

Cornelis Bisschop, 1668

Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

The trip to Chatham in 1667, with a portrait of Cornelis de Witt.

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Girl peeling an apple

Cornelis Bisschop, 1667

Oil on panel 70x57 cm

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

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Bathsheba

Cornelis Bisschop, early 1660s

Oil on panel 39.4 x 33.7 cm

The Norton Simon museum, Pasadena

Originally thought to be by Nicolaes Maes, this painting is now generally attributed to Cornelis Bisschop. Like Maes, Bisschop was born in Dordrecht, and was a versatile practitioner of portraits, history and genre paintings, and it was especially this latter subject where the styles of the two artists intersect. But biblical paintings, such as this one depicting Bathsheba, are typical of Bisschop’s style that emanated from his teacher, Ferdinand Bol (1616–1680), especially seen here in the dramatically lit, smooth skin of her body. The picture tells the story from the second book of Samuel, chapter 11, when king David, standing atop his palace, sees the beautiful Bathsheba bathing at a fountain beyond, and sends a servant with a letter asking her to come to him.

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A Young Woman and a Cavalier

Cornelis Bisschop probably early 1660s

Oil on canvas, 97.8 x 88.3 cm

Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

The picture is in good condition, although there are many small retouches over the entire surface. The glazes have been abraded in the red bodice of the woman especially, and to some extent in her face; the right contour of her head has been reinforced. The background is somewhat obscured by varnish.

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A Young Man and a Girl playing Cards

Cornelis Bisschop

Oil on canvas 123,5 x 104 cm

National Gallery, London

This painting was in England and attributed to Rembrandt as early as 1775. Subsequently it has been thought to be by Nicolas Maes, who was in Rembrandt's studio in the years around 1650. This is not, however, entirely persuasive and, more recently, the work has been attributed to another Dordrecht painter, Cornelis Bisschop (1630 - 1674), who knew Maes's work well and imitated it. However, no signed painting by Bisschop displays the broad handling which is so characteristic of this picture and this interesting attribution must, for the time being, remain speculative.

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Old Woman Sleeping

Cornelis Bisschop

Oil on canvas

Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, Germany

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An infant bacchanal

Cornelis Bisschop

Oil on canvas 83.8 x 65.5 cm

Private collection

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Portrait of an old woman reading holding a pearl necklace

Cornelis Bisschop, 1650 - 1659

Oil on Canvas 45.1 x 100 cm

Private collection

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Abraham Bisschop

Dordrecht 1670 - Middelburg 1731

Abraham Bisschop was the youngest son of Cornelis Bisschop (1630-1674), his father died 3 years later. In c. 1700 he moved to Middelburg. He became a painter of scenes with several types of fowls.

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A pair of mute swans in a pond beneath a balustrade, pair

Abraham Bisschop, 1722

Oil on canvas 141 x 123 c

Private collection

A mute swan preening itself on the edge of a pond, whilst its companion regards a kingfisher perched on a bough.

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Peacocks and other fowl in a garden with a stone urn on a pedestal

Abraham Bisschop, 1706

Oil on canvas 158.8 x 146.1 cm

Private collection

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Allegories of autumn and summer, A pair

Abraham Bisschop, 1722

Oil on canvas 161 x 236 cm

Private collection

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A peacock, poultry and a magpie in a landscape

Abraham Bisschop, 1720

Oil on canvas 89.2 x 92.4 cm

Private collection

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A Peacock on a fallen Vase by a marble female Bust beside a stone Fountain, with a Turkey, Poultry and Sunflowers in a mountainous Landscape

Abraham Bisschop, 1722

Oil on canvas 228 x 169.9 cm

Private collection

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Frans van den Blijk

Dordrecht 1806 - Dordrecht 1876

Van der Blijk was born in an artistic family His father, Raphal, was an active art-collector and respected expert. Frans had frequently contacts with the Dordrechtsche artists such as J.C. Schotel and Abraham van Strij. On the age of fifteen Frans proved to be a talented artist and was accepted as a member of the Dordrecht drawing societssy Pictura. He became a pupil of J.C. Schotel. Together with other pupils and his master they made a journey along the coast of Holland in 1828. The next year they travelled to Flanders and France. In 1830 Frans joined exhibitions of paintings from living masters in Amsterdam en The Hague.

 In 1830 his career was intermittent during the Belgium war of independence and he took part with the Dordrecht civic guard to restrain the insurrection in the 'ten days campaign'. During this campaign he made an aquarelle showing the transport of soldiers by ship. In 1832 he continues his career as painter.

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River view

Frans van den Blijk, ca. 1847

Oil on canvas 106,5 x 167,5 cm

Dordrechts Museum

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A still water

Frans van den Blijk, ca. 1848

Oil on panel 73,7 x 94,1 cm

Dordrechts Museum

Even as his master J.C. Schotel he mostly painted sea and river views with color nuances in the sky parts of his paintings.

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Sail ship with pilot boat on full sea

Frans van den Blijk

Oil on panel 27,4 x 36,8 cm

Museum Kröller-Müller museum, Otterlo

Dordts painter, apprentice of the marine painter J. C. Schotel, also from Dordrecht. Painted harbor, river and sea views, mostly with sail ship. He oriented chiefly and around Dordrecht, but made also trips along the coast of Flanders and France.

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Moored trawers in forth Rammekes (Westerschelde)

Frans van den Blijk

Oil on panel 27,7 x 36,9 cm

Museum Boymans van Beuningen, Rotterdam

Dordts painter, apprentice of the marine painter J. C. Schotel, also from Dordrecht. Painted harbor, river and sea views, mostly with sail ship. He oriented chiefly and around Dordrecht, but made also trips along the coast of Flanders and France.

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Shipping in the Harbour at Calais

Frans van den Blijk

Pencil, pen and grey and brown ink, grey and brown wash, grey ink framing lines 27 x 39,4 cm

Private collection

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Shipping near a harbour entrance

Frans van den Blijk, 1859

Oil on canvas 50.5 x 74 cm

Private collection

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Famous Dutch Painters from Dordrecht, Ancient Capital of Holland

Part 2

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5. Abraham Bloemaert

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Note : Please do not email me with technical questions about paintings and their age and origin because I am not an expert but I only have gathered information about the Painters from the Netherlands and specially from Dordrecht.

---

Dordrecht is not only known as the oldest city and ancient capital of Holland but also for the many famous painters who were born or lived in Dordrecht during the late Middle ages and later centuries.

On the next pages you can find many works from these famous painters who were responsible for many styles of paintings and they immortalized the daily life and landscapes in the 15th to 19th century. Most of their masterpieces are nowadays part of collections in museums all over the world and of which many can be seen in the local Dordrechts Museum.

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Abraham Bloemaert

Dordrecht 1564 - Utrecht 1651

Abraham Bloemaert was the son of an architect, He studied at Utrecht under eminent painters, spent three years in Paris, and then returned to settle finally at Utrecht, where he became dean of the Guild of St. Luke. He painted and etched historical and allegorical pictures, landscapes, still life's, animal pictures, and flower piece. His four sons - Hendrick, Frederick, Cornelis, and Adriaen - all achieved considerable reputations themselves as painters and engravers.

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The paintings of Abraham Bloemaert

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Rest on the flight into Egypt

Abraham Bloemaert, 1632Oil on canvas 85 x 109.5 cmRijksmuseum Amsterdam

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Old woman selling eggs

Abraham Bloemaert, 1632
Oil on canvas 76 cm × 58 cm
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

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The Preaching of St John the Baptist

Abraham Bloemaert, 1595-1600
Oil on canvas, 139 x 188 cm
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

The subject of this painting was very popular in the Netherlands among Protestants and Catholics alike in the closing years of the 16th century. This painting, with its colorful figures, is the most impressive of the versions that the Catholic Bloemaert painted of the subject.

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Adoration of the Magi

Abraham Bloemaert 1624
Oil on canvas 169x193cm
Central Museum, Utrecht

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Warrior and Young Standard-Bearer

Abraham Bloemaert
Pen with brown ink, brown wash on paper, 270 x 171 mm
Museum Mayer van den Bergh, Antwerp

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The Emmaus Disciples

Abraham Bloemaert 1622
Oil on wood, 145 x 215,5 cm
Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts, Brussels

The tableau presents the biblical scene in which Jesus - in a gesture that refers back to the Last Supper - breaks bread and in so doing confirms his resurrection from the dead to two of his disciples, who had not recognized him until then (Luke 24, 13-35).

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Moses Striking the Rock

Abraham Bloemaert 1596
Oil on canvas 80x108cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

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The Four Evangelists

Abraham Bloemaert 1615
Oil on canvas 177 x 226cm
Princeton Art Museum.

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Virgin and Child

Abraham Bloemaert 1628
Oil on canvas 63x51cm
Toronto Art Gallery

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The Baptism of Christ

Abraham Bloemaert, 1602
Oil on canvas 58,4 x 75,9 cm
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa

Using figure groups and landscape motifs, Bloemaert divides his picture thematically in order to highlight the different stages of the sacrament of baptism. At the extreme left, a bearded man admonishes a candidate who is disrobing in preparation for baptism, and who is depicted fully undressed near the centre of the composition. The actual baptism of Christ is given a modest place in the background, dwarfed by the final scene at the right representing the three Ages of Man beneath the Holy Ghost descending from the clouds.

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The Marriage of Cupid and Psyche

Abraham Bloemaert c. 1595
Oil on panel, diameter: 61,6 cm
Royal Collection, Windsor

The composition of the painting is inspired by a large engraving of the Marriage of Cupid and Psyche by Hendrik Goltzius, made after a drawing of 1587 by Bartholomeus Spranger. The rectangular format of the engraving was favored by Bloemaert for another version of the subject now at Aschaffenburg, Bavaria. This compositional dependency on Spranger's work is echoed in the similarity of style, which in turn suggests an early date of about 1595 for the painting.

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Parable of the Wheat and the Tares

Abraham Bloemaert 1624
Oil on canvas 100 x 133 cm
Walters Art Gallery

In this painting the landscape functions as the setting of a biblical story. The key figure is the little man with horns lurking in the background: the devil who sows tares among the wheat while the peasants are asleep (Matthew 13:25).

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Landsape with Peasants Resting

Abraham Bloemaert, 1650
Oil on canvas, 91 x 133 cm

Staatliche Museen, Berlin His peasant landscape contains certain Mannerist elements such as the large distance between the foreground objects and the sweeping horizon, or in the way in which he has united contrasts. The aspects of Boemaert's work adopted by Dutch landscape painters are the picturesque elements evident in his rendering of nature and architecture.

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Charikleia and Theagenes

Abraham Bloemaert, 1625
Oil on canvas, 95 x 118 cm
Scloss Sanssouci, Berlin

This rare subject was taken from the Aethiopica, a Greek novel of A.D. 240 written by a Phoenician, Heliodorus, and devoted to an Ethiopian adventure that takes place in the Nile Delta. Attacked by pirates (at the upper right), the hero, the Grecian maiden Charikleia, kneels over her wounded mate Theagens.

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Amaryllis and Mirtillo

Abraham Bloemaert 1635
Oil on canvas 115 x 140cm
Siftung Preubische Schlosser, Berlin

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Shepherd an Shepherdess

Abraham Bloemaert, 1627
Oil on canvas
Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum, Hannover

The symbolism of Christ and Christians as shepherd and sheep is founded on the parables of Luke (15:3-7) and John (10:1-18). Its translation into visual terms is largely confined to early Christian art. It is rarely enCountered in painting after the Middle Ages. The shepherd became element of pastoral scenes.

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The Bagpiper

Abraham Bloemaert
Oil on canvas
Residenzgalerie, Salzburg

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Death of Niobe's Children

Abraham Bloemaert, 1591
Oil on canvas 204 cm x 249.5 cm
Statens Museum for Kunst Copenhagen

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Adoration of the Shepherds

Abraham Bloemaert 1612
Oil on canvas, 287 x 229 cm
Musée du Louvre, Paris

Bloemaert settled in Utrecht in 1593, and within a decade began to adopt the mild classicism that Goltzius had brought back from Italy. Utrecht was the leading Catholic centre in the northern Netherlands during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and even during the seventeenth century, when Catholicism was suppressed, it continued to keep something of its Catholic character. Bloemaert, a devout Catholic, received commissions for large altarpieces from patrons in both the northern and southern Netherlands, and many of his more than 600 prints were intended for a Catholic clientele.

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Adoration of the Magi

Abraham Bloemaert, 1623-24
Oil on canvas, 420 x 290 cm
Musée des Beaux-Arts, Grenoble

The Catholic painter Abraham, resident in predominantly Catholic Utrecht, painted spectacular altarpieces in the style reminiscent of sixteenth-century Italian painting. He painted this altarpiece, one of his largest, for the church of the Catholic order of the Jesuits in Brussels, in the Southern Netherlands. Such commissions were extremely rare in the Dutch Republic.The painting remained in the church for 150 years. Via Vienna it came in the collection of Napoleon. He founded an art collection in every departement of his empire, and thus this work ended up in Grenoble.

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Landscape with the Prophet Elijah in the Desert

Abraham Bloemaert, 1610s
Oil on canvas. 72 x 97 cm
The Hermitage, St-Petersburg Russia

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Landscape with Tobias and the Angel

Abraham BloemaertOil on canvas. 139 x 107.5 cm
Holland. Early 1600s
The Hermtage, St-Petersburg Russia

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Cimon and Iphigenia

Abraham BloemaertOil on panel 36.9 x 52.1 cm
Private collection

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Adoration of the Shepherds

Abraham Bloemaert, c. 1600
Oil on canvas, 78 x 107 cm
Private collection

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An elderly man, bust-length, in a brown coat and hat; and An elderly woman, bust-length, in  brown coat and headscarf a pair of 2

Abraham Bloemaert, 1634
Oil on panel 37.5 x 27.9 cm
Private collection

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The Adoration of the Shepherds

Abraham Bloemaert
Oil on panel 50.7 x 38.5 cm
Private collection

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Vertumnus and Pomona

Abraham Bloemaert, 1620
Oil on canvas, 98 x 125 cm
Private collection

Pomona, the classical goddess of fruit, and Vertumnus, the god of transformation, are the main fs in an episode in Ovid's Metamorphoses which is depicted here. Vertumnus enters Pomona's grove in order to convince her of his love. Because she had always run away on previous occasions when he came, he has cunningly dressed as an old woman on this occasion. By telling her about the allegory of the grapevine and elm, he is able to convince her of the importance of togetherness, for the grapevine needs something it can climb up and the elm, when considered on its own, i useless. Persuaded, Pomona gives in to love and her innermost longings and they become a couple

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A landscape with farm buildings on fire

Abraham Bloemaert
Oil on panel 61.3 x 87.7 cm
Private collection

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