17th Century Dutch

The scant existing documentation about this painter means we know very little about his life. In addition, although he did sign most of his works, Cuyp seldom dated them, making it even more difficult to establish a reliable chronology of his output.

Born in 1620 to a family of artists and artisans, he initially trained with his father, the acclaimed portrait painter Jacob Gerritsz Cuyp (1594-ca. 1651), and we know that he collaborated in some of his father’s paintings in the early 1640s. His own works from this initial period show the influence of Jan van Goyen (1596-1656), Salomon van Ruysdael (ca. 1602-1670) and Herman Saftleven II (1609-1685), particularly in the palette of colours.

As from 1645 onwards, the imprint of Italianate Dutch landscape painters, like Jan Both (ca. 1618-1652) and Herman van Swanevelt (ca. 1603-1655) became more noticeable and he took on board a series of characteristic features of the Utrecht School, namely elongated trees, abrupt landscapes and golden sunlight.

In 1652, Cuyp embarked on a journey along the Waal and Rhine rivers, visiting Cléveris, Elten and Emmerich and making a large number of drawings which he would later use in his paintings. In point of fact, one can frequently identify fragments from these drawings in his compositions. He also began to include animals in his landscapes, while at the same time creating countless still lifes, seascapes and portraits, where one can note the influence of Rembrandt (1606-1669).

In 1658, he married Cornelia Boschman and abandoned painting in order to devote himself to the Dutch Reformed Church, of which he was an active member, as well as to a number of local civil duties, and in 1679 he was appointed a member of the Tribunal of Southern Holland.

One of his most notable pupils was Abraham van Calraet (1642-1722), whose works have frequently been wrongly attributed to Cuyp.