Barend Cornelis Koekkoek
| Barend Cornelis Koekkoek | |
|---|---|
Koekkoek (1844)
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| Born |
October 11, 1803 Middelburg |
| Died | April 5, 1862 (aged 58) Kleve |
| Nationality | Dutch |
| Known for | Landscape art |
Koekkoek, Barend Cornelis (October 11, 1803, Middelburg – April 5, 1862, Kleve) was a Dutch landscape artist and father of Johannes Hermanus Barend Koekkoek.
Barend Cornelis Koekkoek came to be known during his lifetime as the “Prince of Landscape Painting” and was by far the most applauded landscapist of his time and regarded as the founding father of Dutch romantic landscape painting. The recipient of endless awards and decorations, he counted among his clients King Friedrich-Wilhelm IV of Prussia, Tsar Alexander II, and King Willem II of the Netherlands.
He grew up in an artistic environment. His father Johannes Hermanus Koekkoek (1778–1851) was a renowned marine painter, from whom he received his earliest tuition. His brothers Hermanus Koekkoek (1815–1882) and Marinus Adrianus Koekkoek (1807–1868) were both successful artists, the first as a painter of marine subjects and river scenes, the second as a landscapist. In 1817 he enrolled at the Drawing Academy of Middelburg, where he studied under Abraham Krayestein. On moving to Amsterdam in 1822, he studied for four years at the Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten, and by 1824, at 19 years of age, he voiced his ambition to become a painter of landscapes.
He concentrated on extensive wooded landscapes in summer and winter, a theme deducted from the four season series. Like other Romantic painters such as Caspar David Friedrich, Koekkoek painted the motif of tiny figures within imposing, majestic natural environments to contrast humble humanity with the greatness of creation.
This was a popular subject matter in the Golden Age, the main source of inspiration for nineteenth-century artists. A two years stay in the rural setting of Hilversum (1826–1827), housing a colony of landscape and cattle painters, strengthened his decision. The landscapes he painted in the rural surroundings of Hilversum were received favourably. In 1829, the Amsterdam society Felix Meritis awarded one of Koekkoek's summer landscapes a gold medal. In 1833 he married Elise Thérèse Daiwaille (1814–81), the daughter of his longtime teacher and friend, Master Jean Augustin Daiwaille, with whom he had five daughters.
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