Evening, a composition

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.

This print was not one made by Cuyp in his lifetime and is significantly larger than his three etchings of cows currently in Te Papa's collection. Rather it is a refined reproductive etching with engraving, on chine collé paper, made by Edward Goodall and printed by McQueen and Co, London, in 1832, nearly 150 years after Cuyp's death. It is based on Cuyp's painting in the National Gallery, London (NG 53), and testifies to his considerable status in later centuries.

See:

https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/collection_object_details.aspx?objectId=3293959&partId=1&searchText=cuy p+evening&page=1

Dr Mark Stocker  Curator, Historical International Art  March 2019