WebMuseum: Cuyp
Cuyp
Cuyp
. The name of a family of Dutch painters of Dordrecht, of which
three members gained distinction.
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.
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.
Aelbert Cuyp
(1620-91) is the most famous member of the 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
Claude
more closely in spirit than any of his countrymen who travelled to Italy.
Photographs by
Carol Gerten-Jackson
.
-
The Maas at Dordrecht
1660 (70 Kb); Oil on canvas; The National Gallery of Art at Washington D.C.
? 14 Jul 2002,
Nicolas Pioch
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