KOEKKOEK, WILLEM1839 Amsterdam - 1895 Nieuwer-Amstel (Amstelveen)


Title: On the Church Square in a Small Dutch Town.
Technique: Oil on canvas.
Mounting: Relined.
Measurement: 39.5 x 54cm.
Notation: Signed lower right: "W. Koekkoek".
Frame: Framed.
Provenance:
Private ownership, Germany.

Willem Koekkoek was born into a Dutch family in which the fathers taught their sons - and some daughters - painting for generations and trained them as landscape, marine and architectural painters in particular. Today, there are a total of seventeen painters in five generations of what is probably the most famous and largest Dutch family of artists. As the son of the marine painter Hermanus Koekkoek the Elder and grandson of the progenitor Johannes Hermanus Koekkoek, Willem belongs to the third generation of this dynasty of painters. Like his brothers, he was trained by his father at the easel, but also learnt the profession of architect. Willem only worked briefly in this profession before returning to the family tradition; however, he then made architecture the main theme of his painting. Willem Koekkoek exhibited regularly in the Netherlands from 1865 and enjoyed great success with his specialisation. Later, he was particularly present and in demand on the English art market.

Unlike his famous compatriot Cornelis Springer, who was 20 years his senior, Willem Koekkoek did not usually produce topographically correct views of cities from sketches made while travelling. His paintings are more like capriccios with recognisable buildings, atmospheric lighting and finely observed staffages of figures. His brushstrokes are rather painterly and loose, but his paintings as a whole appear quite precise.

The two paintings presented here, a summer and a winter motif, are typical works by Willem Koekkoek. Market and street scenes with people engaged in everyday activities or in conversation. Sunlight and shadows enliven the baroque urban architecture, which was also perceived as historical in the 19th century. Willem Koekkoek does not tell stories with his paintings, but conveys moods. At the height of industrialisation in the second half of the 19th century, these urban idylls may have had the same decelerating effect as they do today.

We are grateful to Guido de Werd, Cologne, for confirming the attribution of the present painting after examination in the original.