Paintings of the Valkhof from Aelbert Cuyp...

Friday 3rd December 2021 : Today I visited the exhibition “In the light of Cuyp”, about Aelbert Cuyp (1620-1691) and the impact of the Dutch master on British landscape painting. Cuyp was very much a local artist in his day, virtually unknown beyond his hometown. He lived and worked his entire life in Dordrecht and the buyers of his landscapes came almost exclusively from his birthplace. It was only after his death that he was discovered by English collectors and artists. From around 1750 there was a veritable Cuyp mania in England. The British aristocracy were so captivated by Cuyp’s sun-drenched landscapes that by around 1800 there were no longer any important works by the Dutch master to be found in the Netherlands. A Cuyp was a must-have in the great English country house. There were also several paintings from 7 English painters, who were influenced by Cuyp and sometimes tried to copy him. These are, my personal opinion, Cuyp’s best paintings, made from the ancient castle Valkhof in Nijmegen (one was borrowed from the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh; the other one borrowed from Woburn Abbey, an English manor) .… @ Dordrechts Museum, Dordrecht, the Netherlands