Cows..

Aelbert Cuyp (1620-91), who probably spent most of his sparsely documented life in his native Dordrecht, is considered one of the leading landscape artists of the Golden Age of Dutch painting. He is especially famed for his large-scale views of riverside scenes in a golden early morning or late evening light - making the 'Golden Age' just that. The animals in his landscapes always appear healthy and robust. In their idyllic settings, they attest to a buoyant Dutch economy and to the sense of prosperity prevalent in the Netherlands in the early to mid 17th century. In particular, the dairy industry was a subject of great pride, and the depiction of cattle was a special genre in Dutch painting and - in the work of Cuyp and Paulus Potter -printmaking. As one of the propertied burghers Dordrecht, Cuyp served in several administrative and ecclesiastical posts. He appears to have stopped painting in about 1665.

According to Arthur M. Hind in his classic, A History of Engraving and Etching (London, 1923), 'Aelbert Cuyp's etched work is very slight with only eight works (all sketches of cows) being known. His plates are of the smallest dimensions, and dashed off in the most summary outline, but all are full of vigour and significance'.  

This print depicts two cows in a field with their cowherds; one cow standing, the other resting at left; at right are the two seated rustic male figures. Te Papa currently owns three of the set of six etchings. All are, perhaps predictably, entitled 'Cows', following the British Museum online catalogue.

Dr Mark Stocker   Curator, Historical International Art   February 2019