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Lot Essay
Barend Cornelis was born on 11 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). Barend Cornelis, together with his three brothers, received their first drawing lessons in their father's workshop. At the age of thirteen Koekkoek joined 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 Academy of Arts in Amsterdam, where he became a pupil of Jean Augustin Daiwaille (1786-1850) as well as of Jan Willem Pieneman (1779-1853). Barend Cornelis would work with Dawaille for the rest of his career and, in 1833, married his daughter Elise Therese. In 1823 Koekkoek received his 'Diploma der Eerste Klasse' of the Royal Academy and a year after this he received an honorary mention in the yearly review of the Academy.
From 1830 onwards, Koekkoek undertook several journeys along the Rhine and the Ruhr from both The Netherlands and the old ducal city of Cleves where the artist and his wife had settled in 1834. These trips gave him the opportunity to get to know the landscapes and motives whilst drawing and painting, subsequently working out these studies in his studio.
The present lot is exemplary for Koekkoek's mature work of the 1850s. In this refined canvas the light enters the work diagonally from the upper left, illuminating the monumental chapel and the road in the German surroundings near Cleves. In this winter scene Koekkoek worked according to the ruling principle for artists at the time, that the staffage in a winter landscape should not only be pleasing but should also show relevance to the season. In his poetic landscapes, Koekkoek is capturing the essence of the natural world and brings it to a higher, idealized level. The present lot is an exquisite example of the artist's belief that only by examining nature in reality, it could be properly reflected in paint.
The chapel in the present lot can be compared to the one depicted in a summer landscape dated 1843, Chapel near Cleves, in the collection of the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne.
The authenticity has been kindly confirmed by Drs Guido de Werd after firsthand examination.
From 1830 onwards, Koekkoek undertook several journeys along the Rhine and the Ruhr from both The Netherlands and the old ducal city of Cleves where the artist and his wife had settled in 1834. These trips gave him the opportunity to get to know the landscapes and motives whilst drawing and painting, subsequently working out these studies in his studio.
The present lot is exemplary for Koekkoek's mature work of the 1850s. In this refined canvas the light enters the work diagonally from the upper left, illuminating the monumental chapel and the road in the German surroundings near Cleves. In this winter scene Koekkoek worked according to the ruling principle for artists at the time, that the staffage in a winter landscape should not only be pleasing but should also show relevance to the season. In his poetic landscapes, Koekkoek is capturing the essence of the natural world and brings it to a higher, idealized level. The present lot is an exquisite example of the artist's belief that only by examining nature in reality, it could be properly reflected in paint.
The chapel in the present lot can be compared to the one depicted in a summer landscape dated 1843, Chapel near Cleves, in the collection of the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum in Cologne.
The authenticity has been kindly confirmed by Drs Guido de Werd after firsthand examination.