By Dordrechts Museum
Exhibition at the Dordrechts Museum to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the birth of Cuyp in Dordrecht, until 6 March 2022.
An Evening Landscape with Figures an Sheep (1667) by Aelbert CuypDordrechts Museum
Aelbert Cuyp, An Evening Landscape with Figures
The Royal Collection / HM Queen Elizabeth II
Aelbert Cuyp (1620-1691) is Dordrecht’s best-known painter and one of the greatest Dutch landscape painters.
Now known as the master of golden light, he was virtually unknown beyond his hometown in the 17th century.
View of Dordrecht, with Cattle and a Milkmaid (1650) by Aelbert CuypDordrechts Museum
Aelbert Cuyp, View of Dordrecht, with Cattle and a Milkmaid
London, The National Gallery
Dordrecht seen from the landward side beneath a dramatically lit cloudy sky, with cows and a milkmaid prominently positioned in the foreground.
All the key elements of Cuyp’s work come together here: cattle, light, sky and Dordrecht.
Ice Scene before the Ruins of Huis te Merwede near Dordrecht (1655) by Aelbert CuypDordrechts Museum
Aelbert Cuyp, Ice Scene before the Ruins of Huis te Merwede
Private collection
Long after Cuyp’s death, works like this bright winter scene were discovered by British collectors.
He quickly became so popular that a veritable Cuyp mania ensued in England. And a total sell-out of his work in the Netherlands…
River Landscape with Horseman and Cattle (1660) by Aelbert CuypDordrechts Museum
Aelbert Cuyp, River Landscape with Horseman and Cattle
London, The National Gallery
Cuyp at his best: an enchanting river landscape, bathed in diffuse sunlight with lifelike animals and figures.
But closer inspection reveals a duck hunter with a gun in the bushes to the left – this idyll may be short lived.
View of the Waal with the Valkhof from the Northwest (1655) by Aelbert CuypDordrechts Museum
Aelbert Cuyp, View of the Waal with the Valkhof from the N/W
The Woburn Abbey Coll.
A view of the ancient Valkhof stronghold, the pride of Nijmegen. Temporarily reunited in the exhibition with its pendant painting, for the first time since 1762.
Both depict the Valkhof, but from different angles and in different light.
View of the Valkhof from the Southwest (1655 - 1660) by Aelbert CuypDordrechts Museum
Aelbert Cuyp, View of the Valkhof from the Southwest
National Galleries of Scotland
Different times of the day can often be distinguished in Cuyp’s landscapes.
This view of the Valkhof depicts a sunset with warm erubescent evening light, while its pendant from Woburn Abbey shows the Valkhof in bright yellow morning light.
The Passage boat (1650) by Aelbert CuypDordrechts Museum
Aelbert Cuyp, The Passage Boat
The Royal Collection / HM Queen Elizabeth II
From a quintessential local painter Cuyp became an English favourite and the ultimate Country House Dutch artist.
The Passage Boat was bought by the Prince-Regent, the later King George IV, in 1814 at the hight of the Cuyp craze.
River Landscape with Two Horsemen (1660) by Aelbert CuypDordrechts Museum
Albert Cuyp, River Landscape with Two Horseman
Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
To this day, Cuyp’s finest work is still to be found in English country houses and museums.
Only in 1965 this painting was the first monumental Cuyp to return from England to the Netherlands when it was bought by the Rijksmuseum.
Coastal scene with shipping and cattle (1781) by Thomas GainsboroughDordrechts Museum
Thomas Gainsborough, Coastal Scene with Shipping and Cattle
Houston, Sarah Campbell Blaffer Foundation
British artists too became fascinated by Cuyp. Richard Wilson and Thomas Gainsborough were among the first.
Gainsborough was 'passionately fond' of paintings by Cuyp. This work is clearly indebted to the Dutch master.
View in Windsor Great Park (1790) by Rickard WilsonDordrechts Museum
Richard Wilson, View in Windsor Great Park
Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales
Wilson, like Cuyp, brought the warm, Italian light to the familiar surroundings of his own country.
No wonder he was called ‘the English Claude,’ while in England Cuyp was similarly known as ‘the Dutch Claude [Lorrain].’
The Maas at Dordrecht (1650) by Aelbert CuypDordrechts Museum
Aelbert Cuyp, View of Dordrecht. English Heritage
The Iveagh Bequest
Cuyp’s magnificent views of Dordrecht roused curiosity. In 1817, Turner was one of the first to see Cuyp’s birthplace for himself. Surprised by the city’s tranquil, unspoiled character – still without industry – Turner would return at least three times.
The Entrance to the Pool of London (1816) by Augustus Wall CallcottDordrechts Museum
Augustus Wall Callcott, The Entrance to the Pool of London
Bowood House
This is no mere imitation of Cuyp’s Maas at Dordrecht.
Callcott looked very closely and borrowed many elements, including Cuyp’s composition and use of colour and light, but he chose a larger format and an English location: the harbour of London.
Abingdon (1806) by Joseph Mallord William TurnerDordrechts Museum
Joseph Mallord William Turner, Abingdon
London, Tate
This scene is blended ‘in all the golden colour of ambient vapour’, as Turner would admiringly say of Cuyp in 1811.
But unlike his model, Turner depicted the sun in a prominent position. Something Cuyp would never have done.
Cows in a River (1650) by Aelbert CuypDordrechts Museum
Aelbert Cuyp, Cows in a River
Budapest, Szépmüvészeti Múzeum
Five cows in a river, shown from an extremely low viewpoint. They stand out majestically against the impressive cloudy sky.
These innovative cattle pieces by Cuyp were an important source of inspiration for English artists.
Whalley Bridge and Abbey (1811) by Joseph Mallord William TurnerDordrechts Museum
Joseph Mallord William Turner, Whalley Bridge and Abbey
Dordrechts Museum (on loan from a private collection)
It could be Italy, but Turner’s painting shows a bridge in northern England, with textile dyers and cows in the water.
Cuyp-like, but based on his own sketch. Like Claude Lorrain, Cuyp was a great model for Turner.
Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows (1829) by John ConstableDordrechts Museum
John Constable, Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows
London, Guildhall Art Gallery
A spectacular full-sized oil sketch, a study for the definitive monumental painting in which Constable added a rainbow.
A dramatic subject reminiscent of Cuyp’s Dordrecht in a Storm, which Constable called 'truly sublime'.
Study of Clouds (1822) by John ConstableDordrechts Museum
John Constable, Study of Clouds
Oxford, Ashmolean Museum.
Constable must have admired Cuyp’s cows – he owned a series of prints of them – but his greatest appreciation was reserved for Cuyp’s skies.
The constantly changing colours, the forms of the clouds, an approaching storm and other atmospheric phenomena.
View of Dordrecht (1655) by Aelbert CuypDordrechts Museum
Aelbert Cuyp, View of Dordrecht, English Heritage.
The Iveagh Bequest
Cuyp’s magnificent views of Dordrecht roused curiosity. In 1817, Turner was one of the first to see Cuyp’s birthplace for himself.
Surprised by the city’s tranquil, unspoiled character – still without industry – Turner would return at least three times.
In the Light of Cuyp presents many works by British artists including Richard Wilson, Thomas Gainsborough, John Constable, J.M.W. Turner, Richard Parkes Bonington, Augustus Wall Callcott and John Crome that have never before been shown in the Netherlands. Two masterpieces by Cuyp from the British Royal Collection Trust have been generously lent by Her Majesty The Queen. Three landscapes by Cuyp from Woburn Abbey that have never before been on display in the Netherlands will also be returning to the city where they were made.
Other loans include paintings by Cuyp and his British followers from the National Gallery in London, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Tate Britain, the National Trust, Kenwood House, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Museum of Fine Arts in Budapest, the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne and the National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin.
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