.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Already by his life Barend Cornelis Koekkoek was a highly acclaimed artist, and came to be known as the 'Prince of landscape painting'. He received numerous awards and decorations. King Willem II of the Netherlands, King Friedrich-Wilhelm IV of Prussia and Tsar Alexander II were among his clients. Koekkoek undertook several journeys along the Rhine, the Ahr and the Ruhr from both the Netherlands and the old dukecity of Cleves, where the artist settled in 1834. These trips gave him the opportunity, while drawing and studying from nature, to get to know the landscapes and motives, which he subsequently worked out in his paintings in his studio. Koekkoek's artist's lessonbook for apprentices, Herinneringen en Mededeelingen eenen Landschapschilder, published in Amsterdam in 1841, was conceived as a description of such a journey along the Rhine, whereby he took the reader as a pupil by the hand, drawing the attention towards the many specifics and characteristics of nature and the landscape. In the same year of the book's publication, Koekkoek founded a drawing academy (Zeigen Collegium) in Cleves, where he tutored many young artists, such as his brother M.A. Koekkoek, his brother-in-law A.J. Daiwaille, J.B. Klombeck, Louwrens Hanedoes, Johannes Tavenraat, L.J. Kleijn and F.M. Kruseman. Herinneringen en Mededeelingen eenen Landschapschilder was meant as a manual for painting landscapes and contains many contemplations about nature and art, as well as advises concerning subject-matter and painting techniques.
In order to reach perfection, Koekkoek advised the artist to study after nature as much as possible. Especially the silvery light at dawn, the colourful sunsets and the upcoming or going storms had to be attentively contemplated. According to Koekkoek the effects of the sunlight was 'de ziel van alles'. Above all the apprentice had to absorb this, in order to record nature in the studio (Koekkoek, op.cit., p. 235). Although, according to Koekkoek, study after was the only way to perfect artistic craftmanship, he also directed his pupils to the Dutch 17th century masters. After all, they too had chosen nature as a guide (Ibidem, p. 235).
Certain aspects of Koekkoek's Rhine landscape series are reminiscent of Dutch 17th century landscape painting. Koekkoek, for example, painted trees in the manner of Jacob van Ruisdael and was inspired in his staffage by the second generation of Dutch Italianate painters, such as Nicolaes Berchem and Jan Both.
The present lot clearly illustrates the importance of the staffage. Besides serving as a repoussoir and herewith emphasizing central vanishing point, it also gives the painting a narrative value. In Koekkoek's drawings from 1830 and onwards, the artist, who was in the possession of prints after Berchem, shows himself clearly influenced by the latter's figuration.
Over the years it became a characteristic feature of Koekkoek's work to both add an 'italianate' staffage to his realistically rendered landscapes, as well as an 'italianate' golden-toned light. What Koekkoek achieved with the application of his staffage and light-effects, also becomes clear on the level of composition in the Rhine landscape series. In order to portray the Italian landscape in an ideal way, he applied compositions already known to the Dutch Italianate painters. Koekkoek offers the beholder an overpowering, architectural scenery by placing him on a raised viewing point, thus giving the composition an intense panoramic effect. The painting gains an enormous depth, a sheer endless perspective and a monumental appeal.
Even in his early work the paintings by Koekkoek are never simply an exact rendering of an existent situation. They are always, both in concept and in composition, capriccio views, composed with elements derived from studies after nature. He wrote: 'De natuur is de volmaakste schilderij, daarom moeten wij zoveel studin naar haar maken als mogelijk is. (...) In de natuur kunnen wij niet dwalen; Alles in haar is waar! en de waarheid moet steeds den kunstenaar een heilige pligt zijn. Als hij rusteloos en verstandig de natuur bestudeert, zal hij den aanschouwer (...), doen gelooven, dat uwe schilderij eene letterlijke navolging der natuur is, hoewel hij slechts eene bevallige leugen ziet!'.
When surveying Koekkoek's painted oeuvre between 1830 and 1850, it becomes clear that his initial realistic style, evolved into the artist's more favourable and ideal landscapes. By taking domicile in Cleves Koekkoek concedes to his predilection for the German landscape. In the 1850s Koekkoek intensified the Romantic character of his landscapes, with the Romantic concept of sehnsucht finding it's most lucid and profound expression. According to Fr. Gorissen the present lot may well be the counterpiece for De Rukwind, dating from the same year and now in the collection of the Historisch Museum (collection Fodor), Amsterdam (cf. literature: A. Nollert, Barend Cornelis Koekkoek (1803-1862), Prins der Landschapschilders (exh.cat.), Zwolle 1997).
In order to reach perfection, Koekkoek advised the artist to study after nature as much as possible. Especially the silvery light at dawn, the colourful sunsets and the upcoming or going storms had to be attentively contemplated. According to Koekkoek the effects of the sunlight was 'de ziel van alles'. Above all the apprentice had to absorb this, in order to record nature in the studio (Koekkoek, op.cit., p. 235). Although, according to Koekkoek, study after was the only way to perfect artistic craftmanship, he also directed his pupils to the Dutch 17th century masters. After all, they too had chosen nature as a guide (Ibidem, p. 235).
Certain aspects of Koekkoek's Rhine landscape series are reminiscent of Dutch 17th century landscape painting. Koekkoek, for example, painted trees in the manner of Jacob van Ruisdael and was inspired in his staffage by the second generation of Dutch Italianate painters, such as Nicolaes Berchem and Jan Both.
The present lot clearly illustrates the importance of the staffage. Besides serving as a repoussoir and herewith emphasizing central vanishing point, it also gives the painting a narrative value. In Koekkoek's drawings from 1830 and onwards, the artist, who was in the possession of prints after Berchem, shows himself clearly influenced by the latter's figuration.
Over the years it became a characteristic feature of Koekkoek's work to both add an 'italianate' staffage to his realistically rendered landscapes, as well as an 'italianate' golden-toned light. What Koekkoek achieved with the application of his staffage and light-effects, also becomes clear on the level of composition in the Rhine landscape series. In order to portray the Italian landscape in an ideal way, he applied compositions already known to the Dutch Italianate painters. Koekkoek offers the beholder an overpowering, architectural scenery by placing him on a raised viewing point, thus giving the composition an intense panoramic effect. The painting gains an enormous depth, a sheer endless perspective and a monumental appeal.
Even in his early work the paintings by Koekkoek are never simply an exact rendering of an existent situation. They are always, both in concept and in composition, capriccio views, composed with elements derived from studies after nature. He wrote: 'De natuur is de volmaakste schilderij, daarom moeten wij zoveel studin naar haar maken als mogelijk is. (...) In de natuur kunnen wij niet dwalen; Alles in haar is waar! en de waarheid moet steeds den kunstenaar een heilige pligt zijn. Als hij rusteloos en verstandig de natuur bestudeert, zal hij den aanschouwer (...), doen gelooven, dat uwe schilderij eene letterlijke navolging der natuur is, hoewel hij slechts eene bevallige leugen ziet!'.
When surveying Koekkoek's painted oeuvre between 1830 and 1850, it becomes clear that his initial realistic style, evolved into the artist's more favourable and ideal landscapes. By taking domicile in Cleves Koekkoek concedes to his predilection for the German landscape. In the 1850s Koekkoek intensified the Romantic character of his landscapes, with the Romantic concept of sehnsucht finding it's most lucid and profound expression. According to Fr. Gorissen the present lot may well be the counterpiece for De Rukwind, dating from the same year and now in the collection of the Historisch Museum (collection Fodor), Amsterdam (cf. literature: A. Nollert, Barend Cornelis Koekkoek (1803-1862), Prins der Landschapschilders (exh.cat.), Zwolle 1997).