Horsemen and Herdsmen with Cattle

1655/1660

Aelbert Cuyp

Artist, Dutch, 1620 - 1691

Golden sunlight pours across a landscape with three people on horseback and two more people near a flock of sheep, a cow, and a mule in this horizontal painting. The people all have pale, peachy skin. The horizon is about a third of the way up the composition and is lined with towers on distant, hazy, pale yellow hills. Two of the horses are to the right of center, both facing us. The horse on the left is white, and the rider wears an azure-blue tunic and red brimless cap. The other horse is brown with a white blaze, and its rider wears a red tunic and black cap. That second rider points with a whip to the sitting and standing people near the sheep, to the right. Those two people wear brown jackets, and the standing man has a mustache. The seated person rests a long staff over one shoulder. About half of the nine sheep there lie on the ground, and the others stand. The cow dips her head down to the sheep, and the splay-footed donkey has baskets hung to each side. This grouping is in front of a copse of tall trees that nearly reach the top edge of the composition. The third rider is to our left and a short distance away. That dark brown horse gallops to our right. A short distance away, another herdsman along the left edge of the composition wears a red tunic and brown pants, and he rests a long staff on one shoulder. One cow stands and one lies down next to that herdsman. Sunlight rakes across twigs, leafy plants, scrubby growth, and rocks in the foreground, closest to us. Sailboats float on the waterways that stretch horizontally across the painting in the distance, and the land separating those bodies of water is dotted with spires, windmills, towers, and other structures. A dozen dark birds fly high in the sky, which takes up the top two-thirds of the picture. A bank of iridescent yellow and pearly white clouds trundle across the pale blue sky. The artist signed the painting in the lower right corner, “A.cuijp.”

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This broad, panoramic view of a river valley has long been considered one of Aelbert Cuyp’s most masterful works. In the soft light of the late afternoon, the humid air softens the landscape. Two brightly dressed horsemen have paused their elegant white and chestnut-colored steeds near a cluster of trees. Behind them, two men, one holding his mule’s leash, rest in the shade of the trees while keeping an eye on a small flock of sheep and a cow. On the left, another herdsman tends to two cows, and in the middle distance a rider on a galloping horse provides the only real sign of activity. Farther back, the water’s mirrorlike quality suggests calm conditions in which the sailboats will make only limited progress on the meandering river.

This painting is a prime example of the broad panoramic landscapes that Cuyp began to paint during the 1650s. The two hills surmounted by buildings that appear in the background are from the Rhine valley near the towns of Kleve and Kalkar, not far from the Dutch border. Cuyp visited this region around 1651–1652 and made drawings of these hills in a sketchbook he compiled on this trip. This distant panorama, however, is an imaginative evocation of the valley that he later painted in his studio.

On View

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 47

Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Widener Collection

  • Dimensions

    overall: 120 x 171.5 cm (47 1/4 x 67 1/2 in.)
    framed: 164.2 x 214.3 x 17.2 cm (64 5/8 x 84 3/8 x 6 3/4 in.)

  • Accession

    1942.9.16

More About this Artwork

Scholarly Article:  Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century: Horsemen and Herdsmen with Cattle, 1655/1660

This horizontal painting shows a group of eight light-skinned musicians and onlookers gathered closely around a rectangular, carpet-covered table. The front edge of the table runs parallel to the bottom edge of the painting, and seems close to us. Shown from about the waist up, the men and women’s vivid lapis-blue, coral-red, buttercup-yellow, lilac-purple, and moss-green garments fall in crisp folds. Bright reflections on the fabric suggest a satin-like material. Two women wear feathers in their hair and one man’s hat is plumed. One man, wearing crimson red and black, sits with his back to us to our left on the near side of the table. He holds the neck of a bass viol, about the size of a cello, with his left hand, and points to pages of an open music book with the bow in his right hand. The other people cluster on the far side of the table. A man to the left plays a violin; a woman at the center plays a guitar-sized bandora, and a woman to our right plays a lute. The musicians, along with a man who leans over the table from between the two women, look down at the music books. A young man behind the woman at the center holds up a glass of pale liquid with his right hand as he touches his left forefinger to his smiling lips. A man and woman stand close together in the background to our right, in the top right corner of the canvas.

Scholarly Series:  Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Johan van der Linden van Slingeland [1701-1782], Dordrecht, by 1752;[1] (his estate sale, at his residence by Yver and Delfos, Dordrecht, 22 August 1785 and days following, no. 71); Fouquet.[2] Albert Dubois, Paris; (his sale, Le Brun and Julliot at Hôtel Bullion, Paris, 20 December 1785 and days following, no. 16, bought in). William Smith [1756-1835], Norwich;[3] sold privately to Edward Gray, who sold it in 1830.[4] Alexander Baring, later 1st baron Ashburton [1774-1848], Bath House, London, by 1834;[5] by inheritance in his family to Francis Denzil Edward Baring, 5th baron Ashburton [1866-1938], The Grange, Northington, Hampshire;[6] sold 1907 with the entire Ashburton collection to a syndicate of (Thomas Agnew & Sons, London; Arthur J. Sulley & Co., London; and Asher Wertheimer, London);[7] sold 1909 to Peter A.B. Widener, Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania;[8] inheritance from Estate of Peter A.B. Widener by gift through power of appointment of Joseph E. Widener, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania; gift 1942 to NGA.
[1] Gerard Hoet, Catalogus of Naamlyst van Schilderijen. . ., 2 vols., The Hague, 1752, 2:495.
[2] The entry in the sale catalogue for no. 71 reads as follows: "CUYP (ALBERT) Op Doek, hoog 46, breed 66 duim. Een zeer capitaal Stuk, verbeeldende een ruim Landschap in den vroegen Morgenstond; by een aangenaam Zonligt, zeit men, op den Voorgrond, ter regterzyde, twee Heeren te paard, en daar nevens twee Landlieden rustende by hun Vee; ter linkerzyde een Herder by een staande en leggende Koe, waar by een Man die te paard komt aanrennen; verder ziet men een Rivier met Schepen gestoffeerd, en in't verschiet verscheide Gebouwen en hoog Gebergte; dit Konststuk is van een ongemeene schoone uitwerking, en een der beste van deezen Meester." An annotated copy of the auction catalogue at the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, The Hague, notes that no. 71 was purchased by "Fouquet".
[3] Cited by Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, trans. Edward G. Hawke, 8 vols., London, 1907-1927: 2(1909):131, no. 430.
[4] John Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters, 9 vols., London, 1829-1842: 5(1834):288. Perhaps this was the same Edward Gray, of Harringay Park, Hornsey, whose collections were auctioned at Christie's, London, May 1839.
[5] Smith 1829-1842: 5(1834):288. Baring, who was made Baron Ashburton in 1835, was a notable politician (architect of the 1842 Webster-Ashburton Treaty with the United States), and connoisseur (trustee of the British Museum and of London's National Gallery).
[6] Bath House was sold in 1890 by the 5th baron Ashburton, and he had the orangery at The Grange converted into a picture gallery that doubled as a ballroom.
[7] "Ashburton Collection Sold," American Art News (19 October 1907): 1. Hofstede de Groot, in both the German (1908) and English (1909) editions, lists the painting as being with Agnew. The painting is listed among those handled by Asher Wertheimer in Norman L. Kleeblatt, ed., John Singer Sargent: Portraits of the Wertheimer Family, exh. cat., The Jewish Museum, New York, 1999: 51.
[8] Widener collection records, in NGA curatorial files, list the painting as purchased from Sulley.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1990

  • Italian Recollections: Dutch Painters of the Golden Age, The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1990, no. 28.

2001

  • Aelbert Cuyp, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; The National Gallery, London; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, 2001-2002, no. 38, repro.

2002

  • Loan for display with permanent collection , Koninklijk Kabinet van Schilderijen Mauritshuis, The Hague, 2002-2004.

Bibliography

1752

  • Hoet, Gerard. Catalogus of naamlyst van schilderyen. 2 vols. The Hague, 1752: 2:495.

1829

  • Smith, John. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish and French Painters. 9 vols. London, 1829-1842: 5(1834):288, no. 10.

1854

  • Jervis-White-Jervis, Lady Marian. Painting and Celebrated Painters, Ancient and Modern. 2 vols. London, 1854: 2:217, 325.

  • Waagen, Gustav Friedrich. Treasures of Art in Great Britain: Being an Account of the Chief Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, Illuminated Mss.. 3 vols. Translated by Elizabeth Rigby Eastlake. London, 1854: 2:110.

1891

  • Cundall, Frank. The Landscape and Pastoral Painters of Holland: Ruisdael, Hobbema, Cuijp, Potter. Illustrated biographies of the great artists. London, 1891: 163.

1907

  • Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century. 8 vols. Translated by Edward G. Hawke. London, 1907-1927: 2(1909):131, no. 430.

  • Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis. Beschreibendes und kritisches Verzeichnis der Werke der hervorragendsten holländischen Maler des XVII. Jahrhunderts. 10 vols. Esslingen and Paris, 1907-1928: 2(1908):125, no. 430.

1913

  • Hofstede de Groot, Cornelis, and Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Pictures in the collection of P. A. B. Widener at Lynnewood Hall, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania: Early German, Dutch & Flemish Schools. Philadelphia, 1913: unpaginated, repro.

1923

  • Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1923: unpaginated, repro.

1930

  • Holmes, Jerrold. "The Cuyps in America." Art in America 18, no. 4 (June 1930): 185, no. 34.

1931

  • Paintings in the Collection of Joseph Widener at Lynnewood Hall. Intro. by Wilhelm R. Valentiner. Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 1931: 40, repro.

1936

  • Leslie, Shane. American Wonderland: Memories of Four Tours in the United States of America (1911-1935). London, 1936: 113,115.

1942

  • National Gallery of Art. Works of art from the Widener collection. Washington, 1942: 5, no. 612.

1944

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. Masterpieces of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. Translated. New York, 1944: 108, color repro.

1948

  • National Gallery of Art. Paintings and Sculpture from the Widener Collection. Washington, 1948 (reprinted 1959): 57, repro.

1957

  • Shapley, Fern Rusk. Comparisons in art: A Companion to the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC. London, 1957 (reprinted 1959): pl. 145.

1961

  • Hutton, William. "Aelbert Cuyp: The Riding Lesson." Toledo Museum of Art Museum News 4 (1961): 81, 84, repro.

1965

  • National Gallery of Art. Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. Washington, 1965: 36.

1966

  • Cairns, Huntington, and John Walker, eds. A Pageant of Painting from the National Gallery of Art. 2 vols. Translated. New York, 1966: 1: 246, color repro.

1967

  • Dattenberg, Heinrich. Niederrheinansichten holländischer Künstler des 17. Jahrhunderts. Die Kunstdenkmäler des Rheinlands 10. Dusseldorf, 1967: 72-73, repro. 79a.

1968

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 29, repro.

1975

  • Reiss, Stephen. Aelbert Cuyp. Boston, 1975: 179, no. 136, repro.

  • National Gallery of Art. European paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. Washington, 1975: 90, repro.

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 298-299, color repro.

1976

  • Wittmann, Otto, ed. The Toledo Museum of Art: European Paintings. University Park, 1976: 47.

  • Hoet, Gerard. Catalogus of naamlyst van schilderyen. 3 vols. Reprint of 1752 ed. with supplement by Pieter Terwesten, 1770. Soest, 1976: 2:495.

1982

  • White, Christopher. The Dutch Paintings in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen. Cambridge, 1982: 32.

1984

  • Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 298, no. 398, color repro.

1985

  • National Gallery of Art. European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. Washington, 1985: 110, repro.

1986

  • Sutton, Peter C. A Guide to Dutch Art in America. Washington and Grand Rapids, 1986: 306.

1990

  • Duparc, Frederik J., and Linda L. Graif. Italian Recollections: Dutch Painters of the Golden Age. Exh. cat. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1990: 109-110, no. 28..

1992

  • Chong, Alan. "Aelbert Cuyp and the Meanings of Landscape." Ph.D. dissertation, New York University, 1992: 405-406, no. 158.

1995

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1995: 46-50, color repro. 49.

2001

  • Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Aelbert Cuyp. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington; National Gallery, London; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Washington, 2001: no. 38, 28, 39-40, 42, 44, 57, 72, 168-169, 205-206, repro.

2003

  • Waagen, Gustav Friedrich. Treasures of Art in Great Britain. Translated by Elizabeth Rigby Eastlake. Facsimile edition of London 1854. London, 2003: 2:110.

Inscriptions

lower right: A.cuijp.

Wikidata ID

Q20177391

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