- 55
Barend Cornelis Koekkoek
Estimate
80,000 - 120,000 GBP
bidding is closed
Description
- Barend Cornelis Koekkoek
- The Gust of Wind
- signed and dated B.C. Koekkoek ft 1855 lower right; authenticated and with the artist's seal on the reverse
- oil on canvas
- 72 by 89cm., 28¼ by 35in.
Provenance
Anton Ritter von Ölzelt (1817-75, Austrian architect)
Sale: Kaeser, Vienna, 18-19 November 1878, lot 37
L.V. Ledeboer Bzn., Rotterdam
Hermanus Koekkoek Junior, London
Sale: van Pappelendam & Schouten, Amsterdam, 12 April 1882, lot 61
Sale: M. Oldenzeel, Rotterdam, 25-26 June 1891, lot 89
Kunsthandel Roos, Amsterdam (by 1891)
Baron Königswarter, Vienna
Sale: Vienna, 9-10 May 1906, lot 56
Dr Pierre Pobé (sale: Auctiones AG, Basel, Gemälde, Zeichnungen und Aquarelle, Möbel, Kunstgewerbe, Teppiche: Sammlung Dr. Pierre Pobé, 23-24 February 1979, lot 62)
Private collection, Basel; thence by descent to the present owner
Sale: Kaeser, Vienna, 18-19 November 1878, lot 37
L.V. Ledeboer Bzn., Rotterdam
Hermanus Koekkoek Junior, London
Sale: van Pappelendam & Schouten, Amsterdam, 12 April 1882, lot 61
Sale: M. Oldenzeel, Rotterdam, 25-26 June 1891, lot 89
Kunsthandel Roos, Amsterdam (by 1891)
Baron Königswarter, Vienna
Sale: Vienna, 9-10 May 1906, lot 56
Dr Pierre Pobé (sale: Auctiones AG, Basel, Gemälde, Zeichnungen und Aquarelle, Möbel, Kunstgewerbe, Teppiche: Sammlung Dr. Pierre Pobé, 23-24 February 1979, lot 62)
Private collection, Basel; thence by descent to the present owner
Literature
Friedrich von Boetticher, Malerwerke des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts, Dresden, 1891-1901, vol. I.2, p. 762, no. 29, catalogued & described
Friedrich Gorissen, B.C. Koekkoek: Werkverzeichnis der Gemälde, Düsseldorf, 1962, n.p., no. 55/72, catalogued & illustrated (as Der Windstoß)
Friedrich Gorissen, B.C. Koekkoek: Werkverzeichnis der Gemälde, Düsseldorf, 1962, n.p., no. 55/72, catalogued & illustrated (as Der Windstoß)
Condition
The canvas has not been lined. There is a pattern of hairline craquelure throughout, which appears to be stable. Ultra-violet light reveals some minor filling of retouching in the craquelure in the tree to the left, one spot towards the upper left corner and one along the upper edge. The picture is otherwise in very good condition and ready to hang.
Presented in a decorative gilt frame.
"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."
"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 seventeenth 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 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 seventeenth 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.