Aelbert Cuyp Painting by Paul Meijering

About "Aelbert Cuyp Painting"

by Paul Meijering

About the artwork

Realistic acrylic painting of the Dutch painter Aelbert Cuyp, painted by the Dutch fine artist Paul Meijering - the original painting is 90 x 120 cm and part of a permanent collection.

Aelbert Cuyp or often also Albert Cuyp (Dordrecht, 20 October 1620 - buried there 15 November 1691) was a Dutch painter, draughtsman and printmaker from a renowned Dordrecht artistic family. He is best known for his landscapes.

He was the only child of Jacob Cuyp, a Dordrecht-born landscape painter, and received extensive painting lessons from him. He lived and worked for much of his life in the "Huis Samson" in the Wijnstraat in Dordrecht. In 1658, Cuyp married the distinguished Cornelia Boschman, the widow of Johan van den Corput and left with three children. By then, he had already had an impressive career as a painter. The following year, a daughter was born. After 1660, he held a variety of positions in the reformed church. As his financial position was now secure, he painted considerably less. Cuyp died in 1691, four years after his wife, and was buried in the Augustijnenkerk.

Cuyp was influenced by Salomon van Ruysdael, Jan van Goyen, Jan Both and Claude Lorrain. He was attracted to chivalric and dynastic culture. Equestrian art is extraordinarily important: in Cuyp's case, ridden figures are often dressed in the quasi-Eastern or 'Polish' style favoured by the upper class, and assume poses taught at equestrian academies in France. Most of the paintings are undated.

Cuyp developed his own rich style after 1650. He is known for the many colourful figures and animals depicted and for his often full colour palette. His marines are bathed in a sunny, Mediterranean light, although he never visited Italy.