L13101

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Lot 242
  • 242

Barend Cornelis Koekkoek

Estimate
200,000 - 300,000 GBP
bidding is closed

Description

  • Barend Cornelis Koekkoek
  • Figures in a Wooded Landscape
  • signed and dated B C Koekkoek ft 1850 lower left; with the artist's seal on the reverse
  • oil on panel
  • 58.5 by 80.5cm., 23 by 31¾in.

Provenance

Richard Green, London
Purchased from the above by the family of the present owner in the 1990s

Condition

The panel is flat and even and ensuring a stable structural support. This painting is in very good condition, and is ready to hang. Ultraviolet light reveals some very minor signs of retouching, primarily scattered tiny spots in the sky, and minor strokes addressing frame rubbing along the extreme upper edge. The work appears to have been selectively cleaned in the past as the varnish fluoresces more opaquely over the rest of the composition, obscuring a clear reading of the surface under ultra-violet light, however it appears most unlikely that there is significant retouching below this. Held in a gilt decorative frame. The colours in the original are deeper than in the catalogue illustration, with somewhat less pink and yellow.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

Barend Cornelis Koekkoek is considered the most accomplished and important of the nineteenth-century Dutch Romantic landscape painters. During his lifetime he came to be known as 'the prince of landscape painters'.

The eldest son of the marine painter Johannes Hermanus Koekkoek (1778-1851), in 1822 - at the age of nineteen - he was granted a scholarship by King Willem I to study at the Royal Academy of Arts in Antwerp, where he received lessons from Jan Willem Pieneman and Auguste Daiwaille. The subsequent landscapes he painted in the rural surroundings of Hilversum were favourably received and earned him a gold medal in 1829.

However, the Dutch countryside failed to keep Koekkoek's romantic soul satisfied. 'To be sure', he wrote in 1841, 'our fatherland boasts no rocks, waterfalls, high mountains or romantic valleys. Proud, sublime nature is not to be found in our land'. In the early 1830s therefore, he moved to Germany where he travelled along the rivers Ahr, Rhine and Ruhr, before finally settling in Kleve in 1834. The impressive river valleys and age-old woods surrounding Kleve had been attracting Dutch artists since the 17th Century and matched his romantic ideals perfectly. From that moment large, gnarled oak trees, winding paths and panoramic vistas filled his compositions with an artful blend of minute detail and atmospheric mood.

Under Koekkoek's leadership Kleve became the birthplace of a new and influential school of landscape painting, with many young artists coming to Kleve to be tutored by the revered master. Koekkoek founded his own academy at Kleve in 1841, instructing his students to follow the rules of landscape painting as described in his book Herinneringen en mededeelingen van eenen landschapschilder (Memoirs and reports of a landscape painter), published that same year. Among his students were talented landscapists including Klombeck, Kruseman, Kleijn and Marianus Adrianus Koekkoek, to name but a few.

The present work, showing a charming pastoral view, is a wonderful example of Koekkoek's unsurpassed virtuosity. The exquisite execution down to even the smallest details of flowers in the foreground and foliage on the trees combine to create an elegant scene of immense richness.