AELBERT CUYP (1620-1691)

An Evening Landscape with Figures and Sheep (1655-60) 

Oil on canvas (101 x 153 cm)

Buckingham Palace, Royal Collection

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Cuyp was one of the most popular artists with British collectors during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. George IV shared this enthusiasm, and he acquired all seven paintings by Cuyp in the Royal Collection. An Evening Landscape is a supreme example of Cuyp’s work and one of the finest 17th-century Dutch paintings bought by the King. The quality of the picture is comparable with River Landscape (London, Dulwich Picture Gallery) and River Landscape with Horsemen and Peasants (London, National Gallery) both of the same date.

Cuyp’s early work is in the manner of Jan van Goyen and Salomon van Ruisdael, tending towards the monochromatic and replete with detailed observations. This early style was transformed (c.1642) on seeing paintings by Jan Both, who had worked in Italy. Cuyp’s compositions, therefore, became bathed in a warm golden light more evocative of Italy than of Holland. Furthermore, many of the buildings and the character of the landscape in these paintings are based on Cuyp’s experiences on a journey up the Rhine as far as Nijmegen and Kleve near the German border. Strictly speaking, they are not so much topographical views as imaginary landscapes indicative of a very refined taste.

While the foreground of An Evening Landscape and the treatment of the trees remind us of Cuyp’s early work. The hilly nature of the landscape, the hazy atmosphere and the tonal qualities are the signs of Cuyp’s maturity. The varied handling of the paint, extending from the blades of grass in the foreground to the smooth gradations of tone in the sky, are the hallmarks of Cuyp at his very best.