- Written by L.C.Geerts
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Famous Dutch Painters from Dordrecht, Ancient Capital of Holland
Part 11
24. Otto Boudewijn de Kat
25. Willem de Klerk
26. Bernard Koldeweij
27. Leendert de Koningh
28. Adrianus van der Koogh
29. Cornelis Kuipers

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.
Otto Boudewijn de Kat
Dordrecht 1907 - Laren 1995
Otto Boudewijn de Kat was born in Dordrecht, but grew up in Haarlem, where he went to the art school and went to Paris in 1928. Later he attended an evening course at the State Academy in Amsterdam. That study show him the gate to the world. He goes to Paris, where he explored the artistic climate and he met the leading artists such as Mondrian, Van Doesburg and Zadkine.
Back in Holland he tries with restoration work to obtain his money, but he is convinced that painting is his profession. The structure and surface of his paintings are imple. He cntinues to paint compositions with powerful strokes and clear contours. De Kat is looking for inspiration in nature, interior and portrait. An artist who is not sensitive to narrow art of painting.
View on Dordrecht
Otto B. de Kat, 1962
Oil on canvas 65x 92 cm
Dordrechts museum
A reclining nude
Otto B. de Kat, 1943
Oil on Canvas 60 x 91 cm
Private collection
Houses and ruins
Otto B. de Kat, 1935
Oil on canvas 46.1 x 54.3 cm
Private collection
Young woman in green shirt
Otto B. de Kat
Oil on canvas 30.5 x 40.5 cm
Private collection
Landscape in Italy
Otto B. de Kat, 1935
Oil on canvas 46,2 x 54 cm
Private collection
The round table
Otto B. de Kat, 1937
Oil on canvas 100 x 10 cm
Private collection
Study for a portrait of H.R.H Queen Juliana
Otto B. de Kat
Watercolor on paper 43.5 x 21.5 cm
Private collection
Inscribed with title and dedication 'Opgedragen aan mevr. van Zonderen'
A still life with apples on a kitchen table
Otto B. de Kat, 1947
Watercolor on paper 38 x 56 cm
Private collection
A view of the Louvre, Paris
Otto B. de Kat, 1938
Oil on canvas 27.5 x 30.5 cm
Private collection
Houses in the snow at Overveen
Otto B. de Kat, 1942
Oil on canvas 35.5 x 61.5 cm
Private collection
A dining room at Ukkel St. Job
Otto B. de Kat, 1938
oil on canvas 65 x 40 cm
Private collection
Valley of the Cagnes
Oto B. de Kat, 1934
Oil on canvas 46 x 54 cm
Private collection
Willem de Klerk
Dordrecht 1800 - Dordrecht 1876
Willem de Klerk was a pupil of the landscape painters Pietsser Hofmann Dordrecht (1755-1837) and Adrianus van der Koogh (1796-1831). From seventeen he was a member of art societssy Pictura, where he had various directorships. Like many painters in the first half of the eighteenth century, De Klerk traveled along the Rhne. In 1835 and 1838 he traveled through Germany. De Klerk is one of the few romantic painters of Dordrecht.
His early work is in the tradition of Jacob van Strij. The sky do sometimes think of Aelbert Cuyp's work. In de Klerk's later landscapes is the influence of Barend Cornelis Koekkoek noticeable, he was called the "Dordtse Koekkoek". His woodsy scenes are sunny and mountanous landscapes with water features. De Klerk painted a lot of nature. In his studio he eventually idalized landscapes together, based on sketches and from memory.
View on the Rhine
Willemde Klerk, 1843
Oil on panel 66,2 x 89,8 cm
Dordrechts museum
This highly romanticized landscape isin subject choice, composition and coloring clearly based on the work of Barend Cornelis Koekkoek, like hisview of the Rhine Valley.
Mountainous river landscape with figures
Willem de Klerk
Oil o canvas and panel 144,7 x 198 cm
Dordrechts museum
Like Barend Cornelis Koekkok, de Klerk took is inspiration in the Dutch/German Rhine landscape. From various elements in his sketchbook he composed this idyllic landscape We see resting figures, flowing water, lush scenery and a beautiful view at a castle hih above the River.
Summer scene
Klerk, Willem de
Oil on panel 65,9 x 89,1 cm
Dordrechts museum
Winter scene
Willem de Klerk
Oil on panel 70,1 x 93,8 cm
Dordrechts museum
Winter landscape
Willem de Klerk
Oil on panel 66, x 89,8 cm
Dordrechts museum
Landscape With Travelers On A Track NearA Lake
Willem de Klerk
Oil on panel 59 x 86 cm
Private collection
On the ice
Willem de Klerk
il on canvas 97.5 x 130 cm
Private collection
A Dutch Summer Landscape
Willem de Klerk
Oil o panel 41 x 54 cm
Private collection
Winter landscape wit skaters on a small river
Willem de Klerk
Oil on panel 55.5 x 78 cm
Private collection
Bernard Koldeweij
Dordrecht 1859 - Dordrecht 1898
Bernard Koldewey was born in Dordrecht. He was educated at the Antwerp art academy and was advised by the painter Théophile de Bock. He lives and works not only in Antwerp but also in his birthplace Dodrdecht. Like many artists in the 19th century, Koldewey traveled to Italy and Corsica.
Koldewey mainly painted still-lifes, landscapes, port and river scenes, in aquarelle and signed. There are also several figure pieces known of him. Koldewey belongs to the Dordtse Impressionists. These artists painted impressionistic works in and around Dordrecht, so this style is called Dordste Impressionists. He died in 1898 in his native city.
Low tide in de Biesbosch
Bernard Koldeweij
Oil on canvas 40,8 x 61,3cm
Dordrechts museum
Self portrait
Bernard Koldeweij
Oil on panel 35 x 24,5 cm
Dordrechts museum
Visiting the museum
Bernard Koldeweij
Oil on panel 43 x 33,5 cm
Dordrechts museum
Koldewey belonged with Roland Lary and Marinus Reus to painter around 1880 who introduced the new ideas of the Hague School in Dordrecht. In cityscapes and landscapes he developed an impressonistic process with a strong emphasis on atmosphere and life authenticity. That characterizes this painting of the hall of the Dordrecht Museum, as to early 20th century was located in the Boterbeurs at the Wijnstraat.
Going home
Bernard Koldeweij
Oil on panel 41 x 1,4 cm
Drdrechts museum
Fishermen on the river Hollands diep near Dordrecht
Bernard Koldeeij
Oi on canvas 96,4 x 159,5 cm
Dordrechts museum
Working in the kitchen garden
Berard Koldeweij
Oil on canvas 61.5 x 40 cm
Private collection
Women at a ditch on a farm in a polder landscape
Bernard Koldeweij
Oil on painters carton 30 x 42 cm
Private collection
Farm on Walchren
Bernard Koldeweij, 1890
Oil on canvas 83 x107 cm
Private collection
View on Dordrecht at the Meuse river
Bernard Koldeweij
Oil on canvas 82.5 x 103 cm
Private collection
Leendert de Koningh
Dordrecht 1777 - Dordrecht 1849
KONINGH (Leendert de, geb. te Dordrecht 12 April 1777, overl. aldaar 8 Juni 1849, was de zoon van Jan de Koning en Sophia Noteman. Hij werd in de teeken- en schilderkunst onderwezen door A. Vermeulen en M. Versteeg, en schilderde reeds vroeg met talent stille en woelende waters met schepen. In 1801 vertrok hij naar Engeland en bleef aldaar, totdat de omstandigheden van den oorlog, waarin dat rijk gewikkeld was, hem noodzaakten, om als niet-genaturaliseerde vreemdeling het land te verlaten. Na een kort verblijf in Nederland ging hij naar Parijs en oefende zich daar onder leiding van den beroemden David. Daarna reisde hij door Duitschland naar het vaderland, onderweg vele schetsen en teekeningen makende, van welke hij zich later bij zijn landschapschilderen bediende. Na een kort verblijf in Nederland ging hij met zijn echtgenoote opnieuw naar Engeland, vanwaar hij met zijn gezin eerst na de omwenteling terugkeerde.
Hij was lid van de koninklijke Academie te Amsterdam, en van het genootschap ‘Arti Sacrum’ te Rotterdam. Zijn schilderijen worden meest in particuliere verzamelingen aangetroffen. Dordrechts Museum bezit van hem een riviergezicht nabij Dordrecht.
River View at Dordrecht in the so-called Pelser
Leedert de Koningh, 1844
Oil on board 68,2 x 84,2 cm
Dordrechts museum
Landscape with cattle and milk's in the vicinity of Dordrecht
Leendert de Koningh
Oil on panel 49,8 x 68,9 cm
Dordrechts museum
Swiss emigrants at the Mile in Dordrecht
Leendert de Koningh, 1819
Oil on panel
Museum Mr. Simon van Gijn, Dordrecht
A milkmaid walking along a waterway
Leendert de Koningh
Oil on panel 40 x 51.5 cm
Private collection
Washer women at a riverbank, a castle beyond
Leendert de Koningh
Oil on panel 33.5 x 43 cm
Private collection
A winter landscape with cattle-traders and push- and horse-drawn sledges on a frozen river
Leendert de Koningh
Oil n panel 44.5 x 63 cm
Private collection
Reading the Koran
Leendert de Koningh
Oil on panel 4.2 x 36.2 cm
Private collection
Shepherdess and her flock near a river
Leendert de Koingh
Oil on panel 49.5 x 66 cm
Private collection
Hilly landscape with resting shepherd and his flock of sheep
Leendert de Koningh
Oil on panel 40 x 60 cm
Private collection
A Dutch canal with a milkmaid and shepherd boys, cottages and a windmill beyond
Leendert de Koningh
Oil on panel 45.2 x 61 cm
Private collection
Adrianus van der Koogh
Middelharnis 1796 - Dordrecht 1831
Adrianus van der Koogh was born in Middelharnis. When he was 16 he was sent to Dordrecht to take lesson with his cousin Peter Hofman. Then he joined the studio of Jacob van Strij, who was acquained with the work of 17th-century landscape painters, especially Albert Cuyp. Under the influence of this example painted Van der Koogh before arly 1820 romantic wooded landscapes, his series lithographs had impact on the next generation of landscape paintrs.
View of Beek from the Ravenberg
Adrianus van der Koogh, 1820
Museum Valkhof Nijmegen
Travelers on a sandy trackthrough a village in a wooded landscape
Adrianus van der Koogh
Oil on canvas 73.5 x 95.5 cm
Private colection
An extensive rolling landscape with travellers on a sandy track by a watermill
Adrianus van de Koogh
Oil on Canvas 73 x 101.5 cm
Private collection
Dutch river landscape with Castle, Windmill and cattle
Adrianus van der Koogh
Oil on canvas 62 x 83 cm
Private collection
Peasant House in wooded landscape
Adrianus van der Koogh
Oil on panel 43 x 53 cm
Private collection
A wooded landscape with a cowherd and cattle by a cottage
Adrianus van der Koogh, 1817
oil on panel 56 x 74.5 cm
Private collection
Cornelis Kuipers
Dordrecht 1739 - Dordrecht 1802
Cornelis Kuipers, a man who played a subordinate role in the Dordtse painting-art, was born on July 3, 1739 as the son of the 'good citizens' Hendrik Kuipers and Cornelia van Nispen. As a young boy he learned drawing but it was theintention that he learned coarse painting. Cornelis took his apprenticeship in The Hague by Hendrik Johan Keller (1698-1765) and his student Dirk van der Aa (1731-1809), where cilings, room wall systems, panels for carriages and chimney and door pieces were produced. Keller gave Kuiprs the opportunity to improve his skills in painting.
After his training Cornelis Kuipers returned to his native city, wher he married January 1, 1764 with Adriana Booy. His mother was a witness at the wedding but his father had already died a few years before. Kuipers ad a flourishing shop and made decorative paintings in the houses of prominent residents Dordtse commitments. Examples include the chimney piece for the Maaskamer (Mese Room), an existing dome-shaped room in the house Wolwershaven 9 and in 1778 a chimney piece in Louis XV-style for a house in the Wijnstraat.
He also made the painting of the organ and the pulpit in the Lutheran church. He also painted landscapes, flowers and portraits amd a group portrait of the family Blussé in 1777. Kuipers is briefly described in the following quote: 'C. Kuipers was an obese and portly man, who had much ingenuity and could become a good painter when from the beginning a good master of painting had apprenticed him '. Kuiper as a friend of the Dortse painter Cornelis Vermeulen (1732-1813)
From 1783 Kuipers was the second lieutenant f the St. George national guard, also called 'the guards van den nobles crossbow. On a drawing of the guard, he portrays himself with a palette in his hand. He wold stay lieutenant of the national guard until 1793. Kuipers was also a member of the freedom movement (republicans) in 1784, against Stadtholder William V, of which Dordrechtwas the centre, the republican rebellikon was crushed down by the king of Prussia, by his brother-in-law in 1787.
The loss of his talented 34year-old, unmarried, son Henry, on April 11, 1798, buried in the Grote Kerk or its cemetery, was difficult to process for hm. Kuipers died on December 4, 1802, in the burial register of the Grote Kerk on December 10, 1802 is noted: 'Cornelis Kuipers, on' t Bagijnhof left behind hildren, buried with the funeral coach at 11 hours.
Flowers and cat on a marble table
Cornelis Kuipers, 1779
Oil on panel 87 x 70 cm
Private collection
Flowers and fish-can on a marble table
Cornelis Kuipers, 1777
Oil on panel 87 x 70 cm
Private collection
A summer day in the forest
Cornelis Kuipers, 1788
Oil on panel 49 x 67,5 cm
Private collection
Duck Family in the osier
Cornelis Kuipers
Oil on canvas 15 x 46 cm
Private collection