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Lot Essay
Barend Cornelis Koekkoek is generally considered to be the most important landscape painter of the Dutch Romantic period. The present painting, depicting resting travellers on a beautiful sunlit afternoon in summer was painted in 1843 at the height of Koekkoek's mastery and international recognition. Barend Cornelis was born on the 11th of October 1803 in Middelburg as the eldest of four children. His father and first teacher was the river- and seascape painter Johannes Hermanus Koekkoek (1778-1851). At thirteen Koekkoek was a student at the local academy and attended the evening classes of Abraham Kraystein (1793-1855). A scholarship awarded by the Dutch Government made it possible for Koekkoek in 1822 to attend the Royal Acadamy of Arts in Amsterdam, where he became a pupil of Jean Augustin Daiwaille (1786-1850) whom he befriended and worked with during the rest of his career. He even married his daughter Elise Thérèse in 1833.
As previously mentioned, Koekkoek had reached the height of his artistic mastership in the 1840's. He was awarded a Gold Medal in Paris in 1840 for a landscape painted for the Prince of Orange, who later became King Willem II of the Netherlands. In 1843 - the year in which the present lot was painted - Koekkoek received his second Gold Medal at the Paris Salon, confirming his status as the leading Romantic landscape painter of his time. It was also the year in which he moved into his purpose built studio "Belvedere" which was erected on the fundaments of an old city tower in Cleves and gave Koekkoek wonderful views of the town.
From 1830 onwards Koekkoek undertook several journeys along the Rhine, the Ahr and the Ruhr from both The Netherlands and the old Ducal city of Cleves where the artist and his wife had settled permanently 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 paintings in his studio. Koekkoek's lesson-book for young painters, 'Herinneringen en Mededeelingen van eenen landschapsschilder', which was 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 his attention to the many specialities and characteristics of landscape and the architectural elements within it. In the year of the book's publication, Koekkoek founded a drawing academy in Cleve, where he instructed many young artists who wished to be tutored by such a successful painter according to the rules of his book. The basis was laid for what later became known as 'Cleves Romanticism.'
With nature as his most important inspiration, Koekkoek carefully selected and combined various elements to create a new whole. In addition to the beautiful landscape, Koekkoek added three figures and an ox with cart in the foreground and a large ruin on the left in the distance. These additions play an important role as they create a spatial order through which the eye is allowed to wander. As the eye is guided through the spatial order, starting with the figures standing in the foreground, it is led through the centre layer of the work with the bridge crossing the river and ending with the ruin and the clouds hanging over the hilltops.
We kindly thank drs. Guido the Werd for confirming the authenticity of the present work after firsthand examination.
As previously mentioned, Koekkoek had reached the height of his artistic mastership in the 1840's. He was awarded a Gold Medal in Paris in 1840 for a landscape painted for the Prince of Orange, who later became King Willem II of the Netherlands. In 1843 - the year in which the present lot was painted - Koekkoek received his second Gold Medal at the Paris Salon, confirming his status as the leading Romantic landscape painter of his time. It was also the year in which he moved into his purpose built studio "Belvedere" which was erected on the fundaments of an old city tower in Cleves and gave Koekkoek wonderful views of the town.
From 1830 onwards Koekkoek undertook several journeys along the Rhine, the Ahr and the Ruhr from both The Netherlands and the old Ducal city of Cleves where the artist and his wife had settled permanently 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 paintings in his studio. Koekkoek's lesson-book for young painters, 'Herinneringen en Mededeelingen van eenen landschapsschilder', which was 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 his attention to the many specialities and characteristics of landscape and the architectural elements within it. In the year of the book's publication, Koekkoek founded a drawing academy in Cleve, where he instructed many young artists who wished to be tutored by such a successful painter according to the rules of his book. The basis was laid for what later became known as 'Cleves Romanticism.'
With nature as his most important inspiration, Koekkoek carefully selected and combined various elements to create a new whole. In addition to the beautiful landscape, Koekkoek added three figures and an ox with cart in the foreground and a large ruin on the left in the distance. These additions play an important role as they create a spatial order through which the eye is allowed to wander. As the eye is guided through the spatial order, starting with the figures standing in the foreground, it is led through the centre layer of the work with the bridge crossing the river and ending with the ruin and the clouds hanging over the hilltops.
We kindly thank drs. Guido the Werd for confirming the authenticity of the present work after firsthand examination.