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Medium: oil on artist's prepared panel (linen laid on panel)
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Dimensions: 111 by 141.5 cm., 43 3/4 by 55 3/4 in.
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Provenance: PROPERTY OF A LADY
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Exhibited: Brussels, Salon de 1839 (entitled Paysage)
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Literature: La Renaissance: chronique des arts et de littérature, Brussels, 1839, vol. 1, pl. 12, illustrated in an engraving by François Stroobant
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Notes: Painted in 1839, the present work depicts an extensive landscape overlooking the Rhine near Kleve.
Barend Cornelis Koekkoek is generally seen as the most important landscape painter of Dutch romanticism. During his lifetime, he came to be known as the 'prince of landscape painters'. Up to this day, his reputation as one of the finest and most gifted landscape painters remains unchallenged.
Koekkoek settled in the ducal city of Cleves in the summer of 1834. The city's impressive situation by the Rhine, surrounded by ancient forests had attracted Dutch artists since the 17th century, and perfectly suited Koekkoek's romantic, poetic ideal. He undertook several journeys along the Rhine, Ahr and Ruhr, which culminated in the creation of masterly executed landscapes, such as the present work, which gained him international recognition. Koekkoek's fusion of realism (sincere study of nature) combined with his tendency to idealise the landscape proved inspiring for generations of Dutch artists to come, and he thus initiated a novel style of landscape painting which became known as 'Cleves Romanticism'.
From a high vantage point, Cattledrivers in a landscape overlooking the Rhine offers an impressive panoramic view of the valley with the river meandering through the lowlands, hills extending far beyond. Several castles that are located near the river imbue the painting with a sense of timelessness. With its balanced composition, the incredible wealth of minute detail and its scrupulous execution, the present work can be ranked among Koekkoek's most major compositions.
The emergence of Cattledrivers in a Landscape overlooking the Rhine onto the market heralds an exciting re-discovery as this work was hitherto known only through a lithograph by the Belgian artist Francois Stroobant (1819-1916) (fig. 1). The lithograph was published in 1839 in a review of the Salon of Brussels in the Belgian arts magazine La Renaissance. Koekkoek received the Gold Medal on 14 December 1839 for his contribution to the Brussels salons.
We are grateful to Dr Guido de Werd for confirming the authenticity of this work and for his assistance in its cataloguing.
