CUYP, Aelbert
(b. 1620, Dordrecht, d. 1691, Dordrecht)

Cows in the Water

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Panel, 59 x 74 cm
Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest

Cuyp was not only a landscape painter, although there is no doubt that his most attractive and significant works belong to this genre. His range covered conversation pieces, seascapes, portraits and group portraits, but he most frequently depicted animals and landscapes with human figures engaged in fishing, hunting or riding. The setting is generally the countryside around his native town of Dordrecht, and his pictures show us the Meuse estuary with its low coastline, boats at their moorings and cattle grazing. The pictures are characterized by an atmosphere of serenity and calm, with glistening water, soft clouds, gentle landscape, cattle whose smooth coats shine in the evening light and human figures engrossed in work, all combining in a peaceful harmony.