Herdsmen Tending Cattle
1655/1660
Artist, Dutch, 1620 - 1691
Aelbert Cuyp’s painting of herdsmen and cattle along a river with an evocative ruin in the background is more pastoral than agricultural in its associations. In this respect it parallels a rich literary tradition glorifying the values of rural life. The herdsman in the bright red jacket seems to be getting his cows ready to return to the farmstead, if only he can convince his female companion to abandon this lovely spot on the riverbank.
Many of the components of this work—the golden light, the atmospheric character of the distant landscape with its dramatic ruins, the diffused golden light that casts long shadows, the abstract shapes of the rocks and branches in the foreground—show the influence of the Italianate style of Jan Both (1615/1618–1652) and other Dutch artists who had worked in Italy.

West Building Main Floor, Gallery 47
Artwork overview
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Medium
oil on canvas
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Credit Line
-
Dimensions
overall: 66 x 87.6 cm (26 x 34 1/2 in.)
framed: 88.9 x 109.9 x 3.8 cm (35 x 43 1/4 x 1 1/2 in.) -
Accession
1937.1.59
More About this Artwork
Artwork history & notes
Provenance
Possibly Gerard Vandergucht [1696-1776], London, c. 1750; possibly (his sale, London, 1757, no. 66); Jennens,[1] possibly for Henry Penton [d. 1806], London;[2] (his sale, Skinner & Dyke, London, 10 June 1800, no. 49); Sir Henry Paulet St. John-Mildmay, 3rd bt. [1764-1808], Dogmersfield House, Hampshire; by inheritance to his wife, Lady Jane St. John-Mildmay [c. 1765-1857], Dogmersfield House; by inheritance to her grandson, Sir Henry Bouverie Paulet St. John-Mildmay, 5th bt. [1810-1902], Dogmersfield House; by inheritance to his son, Sir Henry Paulet St. John-Mildmay, 6th bt. [1853-1916], Dogmersfield House; (M. Knoedler & Co., New York), from 1902; sold April 1905 to Andrew W. Mellon, Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C.; deeded 28 December 1934 to The A.W. Mellon Educational and Charitable Trust, Pittsburgh; gift 1937 to NGA.
[1] The only source to mention Vandergucht (also written van der Gucht) is the Knoedler prospectus for the painting, in NGA curatorial files, which mistakenly lists the Vandergucht sale of 1777 that did not include any paintings by Cuyp. See instead Frank Simpson, “Dutch Paintings in England before 1760,” The Burlington Magazine 95 (January 1953): 41, who lists a "Landscape with Cattle, etc." by Cuyp as being no. 66 in a 1757 Vandergucht sale in London, where it was bought by “Jennens.” The listing appears in one of two manuscript volumes in the Victoria and Albert Museum library, London, that contain transcripts of catalogues of the principal collections of paintings sold in England between 1711 and 1759. Jennens was likely Charles Jennens, whom Simpson describes as having brought together by the mid-eighteenth century the largest collection of Dutch paintings then in England. Without further description or size information in the transcription, however, it is not possible to know whether the painting in question is identical to Herdsmen Tending Cattle.
[2] The Knoedler prospectus, in NGA curatorial files, says that Penton acquired the painting at the Vandergucht sale. Penton certainly owned the picture by 1760, the date on François Vivares’ reproductive engraving, entitled The Evening. It depicts the composition in reverse but, with the exception of a group of two birds, it is otherwise identical. This print is listed in Charles LeBlanc, Manuel de l’amateur d’estampes, 4 vols., Paris, 1854: 4:141, no. 20; and Andreas Andresen, Handbuch für Kupferstichsammler..., 2 vols., Leipzig, 1873: 2:678, no. 17.
Associated Names
Exhibition History
1866
British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom, London, 1866, no. 43.
1883
Works by Old Masters and by Deceased Masters of the British School. Winter Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1883, no. 243.
1894
Loan Collection of Pictures, Art Gallery of the Corporation of London, Guildhall, London, 1894, no. 51.
1903
Exhibition of a Selection of Works by Early and Modern Painters of the Dutch School, Art Gallery of the Corporation of London, Guildhall, London, 1903, no. 176.
1925
Paintings by Old Masters from Pittsburgh Collections, Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 1925, no. 10.
2005
Time and Transformation in Dutch Seventeenth Century Art, The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie; The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota; The Speed Art Museum, Louisville, 2005-2006, no. 13, repro.
Bibliography
1826
Burnet, John. Practical hints on light and shade in painting. London, 1826: 26-27, pl. 6, fig. 1 (etching).
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):305, no. 75.
1850
Burnet, John. "Practical Hints on Light and Shade in Painting." In A Treatise on Painting in Four Parts. Reprint. London, 1850: Part 3:26-27, pl. 6, fig. 1 (etching).
1866
British Institution for Promoting the Fine Arts in the United Kingdom. Catalogue of pictures by Italian, Spanish, Flemish, Dutch, Franch, and English masters. Exh. cat. British Institution. London, 1866: no. 43.
1880
Burnet, John. "Practical Hints on Light and Shade in Painting." In A Treatise on Painting in Four Parts. Reprint. London, 1880: Part 2:26-27, pl. 6, fig. 1 (etching).
1882
Royal Academy of Arts. Exhibition of works by the old masters, and by deceased masters of the British School. Winter Exhibition. Exh. cat. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1882: 28, no. 243.
1891
Cundall, Frank. The Landscape and Pastoral Painters of Holland: Ruisdael, Hobbema, Cuijp, Potter. Illustrated biographies of the great artists. London, 1891: 161.
1894
Temple, Alfred G. Masterpieces of Art. Exh. cat. Art Gallery of the Corporation of London, 1894: 14, repro.
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):68, no. 203.
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):68, no. 203.
1913
Graves, Algernon. A Century of Loan Exhibitions, 1813-1912. 5 vols. London, 1913-1915: 1(1913):245, 247, 250.
1925
Carnegie Institute. An Exhibition of Paintings by Old Masters from the Pittsburgh Collections. Exh. cat. Carnegie Institute, Pittsburgh, 1925: no. 10.
1937
Jewell, Edward Alden. "Mellon's Gift." Magazine of Art 30, no. 2 (February 1937): 82.
1941
Preliminary Catalogue of Paintings and Sculpture. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1941: 50-51, no. 59.
1942
Book of Illustrations. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1942: 240, repro. 23.
1949
National Gallery of Art. Paintings and Sculpture from the Mellon Collection. Washington, 1949 (reprinted 1953 and 1958): 96, repro.
1963
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. New York, 1963 (reprinted 1964 in French, German, and Spanish): 314, repro.
1965
National Gallery of Art. Summary Catalogue of European Paintings and Sculpture. Washington, 1965: 35.
1968
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings and Sculpture, Illustrations. Washington, 1968: 28, repro.
1975
Reiss, Stephen. Aelbert Cuyp. Boston, 1975: 129, no. 92, repro.
National Gallery of Art. European paintings: An Illustrated Summary Catalogue. Washington, 1975: 88, repro.
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. New York, 1975: 298, no. 402, color repro.
1983
Spicer, Joaneath A. "'De Koe voor d’aerde statt': The Origin of the Dutch Cattle Piece." In Essays in Northern European Art Presented to Egbert Haverkamp-Begemann on His Sixtieth Birthday. Edited by Anne-Marie Logan. Doornspijk, 1983: 251-253, fig. 2.
1984
Walker, John. National Gallery of Art, Washington. Rev. ed. New York, 1984: 298, no. 396, color repro.
1985
National Gallery of Art. European Paintings: An Illustrated Catalogue. Washington, 1985: 109, repro.
1986
Sutton, Peter C. A Guide to Dutch Art in America. Washington and Grand Rapids, 1986: 306, fig. 456.
1991
Kopper, Philip. America's National Gallery of Art: A Gift to the Nation. New York, 1991: 54, 73, color repro.
1992
Chong, Alan. "Aelbert Cuyp and the Meanings of Landscape." Ph.D. dissertation, New York University, 1992: 509, no. Calr. 12.
1995
Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Dutch Paintings of the Seventeenth Century. The Collections of the National Gallery of Art Systematic Catalogue. Washington, 1995: 44-46, color repro. 45.
2001
Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. Aelbert Cuyp. Exh. cat. National Gallery of Art, Washington; National Gallery, London; Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam. Washington, 2001: 29, fig. 20.
2004
George S. Keyes, et al. Masters of Dutch Painting: The Detroit Institute of Arts. London, 2004: 62, fig. 2.
2005
Kuretsky, Susan Donahue. Time and Transformation in Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art. Exh. cat. Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College, Poughkeepsie; John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota; J.B. Speed Art Museum, Louisville. Seattle, 2005: 24, 135-137, no. 13.
2020
Libby, Alexandra. “From Personal Treasures to Public Gifts: The Flemish Painting Collection at the National Gallery of Art.” In America and the Art of Flanders: Collecting Paintings by Rubens, Van Dyck, and their Circles, edited by Esmée Quodbach. The Frick Collection Studies in the History of Art Collecting in America 5. University Park, 2020: 132.
Inscriptions
lower left: A.cuijp
Wikidata ID
Q20177389