p. 101-105 Pieter de Hooch, The Cuijps, Jan Steen
101 THE CUIJPS.
Her messy, blonde hair almost completely covers her face. She carefully moves her left hand toward the jug. It is beautiful in its overall simplicity, and the characters are delightfully simple. Signed: P. D. H., no date.
Was Nicolaas Koedijk a pupil of Pieter de Hooch?1 If he was born, as is said, only in 1681, that's a bit late; admittedly, we don't know when De Hooch died. In any case, Koedijk imitated him superbly. The small full-length portrait of Lieutenant Admiral P. P. Hein [157],2 which is attributed to him in the Amsterdam museum, looks very strong; but one must have good eyes to distinguish it at a height of three meters. These rare masters, though of second rank in their school of painting, should be placed in a favorable light. In the Van der Hoop Museum, we find this Koedijk with one of his best works.3
But to follow the line from Rembrandt, I have omitted a great painter who was born three years before him and who stands next to him in the Dutch school: Aalbert Cuijp.4
THE CUIJPS. – Paintings by Jacob Gerritsz,5 Aalbert's father and founder of the painting society in Dordrecht, where he lived and where Aalbert was born, are almost impossible to find. France and Belgium have none, at least not in the known museums and collections. In Germany I can only find a portrait of an old woman in the Berlin Museum (no. 743), ...
157
Anonymous Northern Netherlands (hist. region) c. 1640
Portrait of Lieutenant-Admiral Pieter Pietersz. Hein (1578-1629), c. 1640
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv./cat.nr. SK-A-204
102 MUSEUM OF AMSTERDAM.
... signed I. G. Cuijp fecit, Anno 1624 [158];6 in the Museum of Munich (no. 454, 2nd series), a City view on the bank of a broad river [159],7 and in the Städel'sche Institut in Frankfurt am Main, a portrait of a woman (no. 241) [160].8 The catalog of the Łazienki collection in Warsaw also mentions a portrait of a man by J. G. Cuijp.9
In Holland, I know only the painting in the Amsterdam museum. Perhaps there are others in private collections that I have not visited.
The painting of old Cuijp, in the Amsterdam museum, is therefore very valuable. It is also an excellent painting. It is called Family Piece (no. 59) and, according to Immerzeel, depicts the family of the painter Cornelis Troost;10 a large, cheerful family: the grandmother, the father and the mother, four boys and two girls, all a little short and stocky, at least as the artist depicted them [161].11
Aalbert too, like his father and his master, always portrayed his characters squarely, lords or peasants, horsemen, or shepherds. Slenderness and elegance are found only exceptionally in the Dutch race and in its painterly interpreters.
Near the festively dressed Troost family, about to go out, a cart is stretched behind a beautiful black horse, of one of those Friesian breeds that Aalbert himself loved to depict. The heads, the costumes, the kind of landscape, a little muted, against which...
158
Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp
Portrait of an unknown woman, dated 1624
Berlin (city, Germany), Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum, inv./cat.nr. 743
159
follower of Jan van Goyen and Anoniem and Anonymous
City near a river, c. 1640
Munich, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, inv./cat.nr. 141
160
attributed to Michiel van Mierevelt
Portrait of an elderly lady, dated 160[3]
Private collection
161
attributed to Jacob van Loo
Family portrait of Hendrick Jansz. Cruywagen (1598-....), Barbara Jans Mastenbroek (....-1650) and their childeren and grandmother, c. 1642
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv./cat.nr. SK-A-81
103 THE CUIJPS.
... the group is drawn, everything is masterfully painted, broad, full-bodied and with a powerful tone (1).
As for Aalbert, in the Amsterdam museum we cannot properly appreciate him, or even in other Dutch museums.12 In a few private collections we can, but mostly in England, where many of his wonderful works were imported.
The Amsterdam museum has only one painting by Aalbert: Landscape intersected by a River (no. 60) [162].13 The catalog adds, however, no. 61, a Horseman's Fight (2) [163].14 I have never been able to guess to which apocryphal painting this title might belong. I am not aware that Aalbert ever painted a battle, and Smith lists none among the 277 numbers in his catalog.15
The landscape, without being first-rate, has beautiful parts, and above all a right and deep light. Aalbert Cuijp does not have his nickname "Dutch Claude" for nothing. We always know what time it is in his landscapes, and what season.
Here we are in autumn, in the morning. In the foreground, on the right, two tall trees; on the left, ...
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(1) Bought from Mrs. Schol, Amsterdam, 600 guilders (new cat.).
(2) The new cat. still attributes this painting to Cuijp, and gives the signature, which is clearly apocryphal: 'A Cyvp'. It suffices to compare it with the signature on the other painting, where the name is written, as usual in the master's second manner: A. cūijp.
162
follower of Aelbert Cuyp
Landscape with herdsmen and cattle, 1660-1795
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv./cat.nr. SK-A-78
163
Abraham van Calraet
Landscape with a cavalry battle
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv./cat.nr. SK-A-79
104 MUSEUM OF AMSTERDAM.
... a man on a donkey, and a man on foot, in a red vest. In the center are four grazing cows and a shepherdess on her donkey. In the second plan a river, trees, a tower and in the background mountains.
The painting, on canvas, is more than 3 feet wide and about 3 and a half feet high. It was purchased for 3,800 guilders at the Van der Pot auction, Rotterdam, 1808.
Next to Cuijp belongs his friend and collaborator Aart van der Neer, whose Winter Effect can be seen in the museum in Amsterdam, very plain, but very authentic, and signed with the monogram with the A and V intermingled, followed by the N connected to the D [164].16
There is also only one painting by Eglon van der Neer, who first worked with his father and later imitated several masters, especially Terburg: Young Tobias with the Angel. Signed: E. H. van der Neer f. 1644 [165].17
Aalbert Cuijp, as we know, was "a true gentleman", who perhaps, we suppose, painted out of vocation and pleasure; he is also said to have been a rigid Calvinist. As a contrast, I now treat one of the sloppiest figures of the Dutch school: master Jan Steen, the outspoken joker, an excellent Catholic moreover; the spiritual and profound humorist, who seems to have chosen human comedy as the text for his paintings.
JAN STEEN is fully represented in the Dutch ...
164
Aert van der Neer
Winter Landscape near a Town with Kolf Players, c. 1658 - c. 1660
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv./cat.nr. SK-A-290
165
Eglon van der Neer
Tobias and the angel, dated 1690
Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv./cat.nr. SK-A-291
105 JAN STEEN.
... museums: the Amsterdam Museum has 8; the Van der Hoop Museum, 5; the Hague Museum, 6; the Rotterdam Museum, 3;18 not to mention the masterpieces in private collections.
The Dutch have great respect for Jan Steen and rightly regard him as one of the most original masters of their school. To some extent, they recognize in him some of their national traits. But Jan Steen's epic goes beyond the character of a people; it touches the depths of humanity.
He has something in common with Molière – and also with Balzac – in that the same characters usually return in his human comedy, always with similar roles, albeit in different plays. Like Molière, he has his Sganarelles, his Arnolphes, his Dorines; a whole well-trained troupe dedicated to Bacchus and Venus; young scoundrels and ridiculous old men, duegnes and soubrettes, gossipy old women and capricious little girls, very-illustrious drinkers and very-precious ribalds.
He almost always portrays himself in the company, toasting with the others and pouring drinks for them, sometimes playing the violin to get them dancing, sometimes looking at them philosophically from a dark corner where he smokes his pipe.
There is no work by Steen that does not mock morality or passions.
His subjects can be divided into several main series ...
Notes
1 Nicolaas Koedijk is now called Isaac Koedijck. It is still not known with whom he trained. See also the annotations of Thoré-Bürger on Koedijck opp. p. 108 (1/2).
2 Anonymous, Portrait of Piet Hein, c. 1630-1640, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-A-204; Aanwijzing 1853, p. 16, no. 154, Koedyk (Nicolaas), Portret van den (Portrait of) Luitenant-Admiraal Pieter Pietersz. Hein (tax.: fl. 500), Amsterdam 1858, p. 78-79, no. 169, as by Nicolaas Koedijk.
3 Now catalogued as manner of Cornelis de Man, Couple Playing Music, Amsterdam, Amsterdam Museum, inv. no. SA 7543 (now on loan to the Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-C-151).
4 Aelbert Cuyp was born in 1620; Rembrandt in 1606/1607.
5 See also Thoré-Bürger's notes opp. p. 108 (2/2).
6 Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp, Portrait of an Unknown Woman, 1624, Berlin, Kaiser-Friedrich-Museum, inv. no. 743 (destroyed in May 1945); Waagen 1857, p. 252-253, no. 743.
7 Follower of Jan van Goyen, City near a river, c. 1640, München, Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, inv. no. 141; Von Dillis 1845, p. 267, no. 454, as by Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp.
8 Attributed to Michiel van Mierevelt, Portrait of an Elderly Lady, c. 1600-1609, sale Vienna (Dorotheum), 11 December 2008, lot 168; Passavant 1858, p. 101, no. 241. With many thanks to Almut Pollmer-Schmidt (email 20 August 2025), who reconstructed the provenance of this painting, which was sold from the Städel museum in 1919, see: Zeitreise - Städel Museum
9 Rembrandt and workshop, Portrait of a Man, 1634, Warsaw, Muzeum Narodowe w Warszawie, inv. no. M.Ob.2189; P./K. 1856, p. 53, no. 91 (499).
10 Immerzeel 1842-1843, vol. 1 (1842), p. 162.
11 Attributed to Jacob van Loo, Portrait of the Meebeeck Cruywagen Family near the Gate of their Country Home on Uitweg near Amsterdam, c. 1640-1645, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-A-81; Aanwijzing 1853, p. 8, no. 59, Cuyp (Jacob Gerretse), Een Familiestuk (A Family piece) (tax.: fl. 1,500); Amsterdam 1858, p. 27, no. 60, as by Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp.
12 See also Thoré-Bürger's note opp. p. 108 (2/2), where he mentions a painting in the Stolberg collection and one in his own collection.
13 Follower of Aelbert Cuyp, Landscape with Herdsman and Cattle, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-A-78; Aanwijzing 1853, p. 8, no. 60, Cuyp (Albert), Een Land- en Riviergezicht (A Country and River View) (tax.: fl. 15,000); Amsterdam 1858, p. 26, no. 59, as by Aelbert Cuyp.
14 Abraham van Calraet, Cavalry Skirmish, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-A-79; Aanwijzing 1853, p. 8, Cuyp (Albert), no. 61, Een Ruiterijgevecht (A Cavalry Skirmish) (tax.: fl. 4,000); Amsterdam 1858, p. 27, no. 58, as by Aelbert Cuyp.
15 Nor are soldier scenes found in Alan Chong's dissertation on Aelbert Cuyp (Chong 1992/1994). Of the Cuyp family, there was one who painted soldier scenes: Benjamin Cuyp.
16 Aert van der Neer, Winter Landscape near a Town with Kolf Players, c. 1658-1660, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-A-290; Aanwijzing 1853, p. 20, no. 199, Neer (Aart van der; 1619-1683), Een Wintergezigt (A Winter view) (tax.: fl. 3,000); Amsterdam 1858, p. 100, no. 222.
17 Eglon van der Neer, Tobias and the angel, 1690, Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-A-291; Aanwijzing 1853, p. 20, no. 200, Neer (Eglon Hendrik van der; 1643-1703), De jonge Tobias met den Engel (The young Tobias with the Angel) (tax. fl. 1,000); Amsterdam 1858, p. 100, no. 223. The year 1644 is underlined and Thoré-Bürger has added: 'he was born in 1643! it is 1694 (edition 1859). Thus, according to Thoré-Bürger, relying on , p. 102, no. 223, the Van der Neer painting is not dated 1644, but 1694. See also the annotations of Thoré-Bürger opp. p. 108 (2/2).
18 Jan Steen's paintings in the Van der Hoop collection, now the Amsterdam Museum: The Sick Woman, c. 1663-1665, inv. no. SA 8316 (now on loan to the Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-C-230); The Drunken Couple, c. 1655-1665, inv. no. SA 8312 (now on loan to the Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-C-232); The Merry Family, 1668, inv. no. SA 8314 (now on loan to the Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-C-229); Family Scene, c. 1660-1679, inv. no. SA8313 (now on loan to the Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-C-231); A Couple Drinking, c. 1660-1679, inv. no. SA 8315 (now on loan to the Rijksmuseum, inv. no. SK-C-233); see Thoré 1858-1860, vol. 2 (1860), p. 111-120. In the Mauritshuis, The Hague: ‘As the Old Sing, so Pipe the Young’, c. 1663-1665, inv. no. 169; The Life of Man, c. 1665, inv. no. 170; The Sick Girl, c. 1660, inv. no. 167; The Tooth-Puller, 1651, inv. no. 165; Portrait of Jacoba Maria van Wassenaer, known as ‘The Poultry Yard’, 1660, inv. no. 166; The Doctor’s Visit, c. 1665-1668, inv. no. 168; see Thoré 1858A, p. 252-258. In Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam: The Feast of St Nicholas, c. 1670, inv. no. OK 1826; The Cutting of the Stone, c. 1675, inv. no. OK 1827; the third painting Thoré-Bürger describes, an Old Testament scene featuring the archangel Raphael and Tobias, was destroyed in the 1864 fire in the museum; see Thoré 1858A, p. 262-267; Kirschenbaum 1977, p. 121, no. 24.