In the first half of the 19th century, many Dutch painters headed into unspoiled nature in search of dreamy, idyllic places. Among these romantic painters, Germany was a popular spot. Barend Cornelis Koekkoek, for instance, settled in Kleve, Germany, and many landscape painters make trips along the Rhine. Conversely, the Dutch landscape also exerts a great attraction on foreign artists, including the German painter Andreas Achenbach. Achenbach starts studying at the Düsseldorf art academy, then one of the leading painting schools in Germany, at the age of 12. After his studies, he made several trips to Holland, where the landscape, coast and cities fascinated him in particular. The Dutch seas and fishing villages proved to be a romantic theme par excellence.
Achenbach also travelled to Scandinavia several times. In the Netherlands, his wooded Norwegian hilly landscapes with wooden houses are considered particularly picturesque. The hilly landscape in Rijksmuseum Twenthe clearly shows what Achenbach's oeuvre is all about: namely the dynamics of grand and unspoilt nature, such as the changing cloudscapes and the far-reaching landscape.
