Aelbert Cuyp and View of Dordrecht

'View of Dordrecht' (c. 1650) by Aelbert Cuyp; The Anthony de Rothschild Collection,
 Ascott House, Buckinghamshire

Today there was not much to choose from but I am happy to do a post on Dutch painter Aelbert Cuyp, born on 20 October 1620, even though I am not a huge fan of his work. I do like his use of light a lot though. Cuyp was born in Dordrecht, a small provincial town in The Netherlands, and was one of the most important landscape painters of the 17th century, the Dutch Golden Age. He lived and worked in his native town and in his early landscape paintings, the influence of Jan van Goyen is evident in its grey-green palette. In the 1640s, his landscape style transformed when he met Utrecht artist Jan Both who had developed a different style after his stay in Italy. Cuyp had never visited Italy himself but from now on he bathed his paintings in golden Italian sunlight. Besides the role that light played in his work, animals were a main feature in his landscape paintings. Most people in The Netherlands know Cuyp, even if they have never heard of the painter. The Albert Cuyp streetmarket in Amsterdam is probably the most well-known and most popular market in the country. I like the light of the setting sun in today's painting and the calm and friendly atmosphere.