Aelbert Cuyp, 'The Maas at Dordrecht in a Storm', about 1645-50
About the work
Overview
Aelbert Cuyp is best known for landscapes which evoke a strong sense of peace, plenty and prosperity. This picture, which is probably an early work, is very different. It is defined by the lightning which flashes across the sky above Cuyp’s home town of Dordrecht. It captures an instant – the moment when the gleaming rooftops and the church tower in the background have been illuminated by the sudden blaze of light.
In the foreground, the clouds seem to be clearing. A burst of sunlight catches the spray thrown back over the bow of the boat nearest us. The churning waves are capped with foam and the sail is blown taught against the rigging. But in the midst of this drama, there is also a quiet stoicism: the sailors seem calm and controlled while nature rages around them. If there is heroism here, it is the quiet heroism of endurance in the face of adversity.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- The Maas at Dordrecht in a Storm
- Artist
- Aelbert Cuyp
- Artist dates
- 1620 - 1691
- Date made
- about 1645-50
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 49.8 × 74.4 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed
- Acquisition credit
- Presented by the Misses Rachel F. and Jean I. Alexander; entered the Collection, 1972
- Inventory number
- NG6405
- Location
- Room 19
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Frame
- 18th-century French Frame
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Neil MacLaren, revised and expanded by Christopher Brown, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School: 1600–1900’, London 1991; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Exhibition history
-
2021In the light of Cuyp. Aelbert Cuyp & Gainsborough – Constable – TurnerDordrechts Museum3 October 2021 - 8 May 2022
Bibliography
-
1887Royal Academy of Arts, Exhibition of Works by the Old Masters and by Deceased Masters of the British School: Including a Collection of Water-Colour Drawings by Joseph M.W. Turner, R.A. (exh. cat., Royal Academy of Arts, January 1887 - March 1887), London 1887
-
1907C. Hofstede de Groot, Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, 10 vols, London 1907
-
1907C. Hofstede de Groot, Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, 10 vols, London 1907
-
1953S. Reiss, 'Aelbert Cuyp', The Burlington Magazine, XCV/365, 1953
-
1954Norwich Castle Museum, Catalogue of Loan Exhibition East Anglia and the Netherlands at the Norwich Castle Museum (exh. cat., Norwich Castle Museum, 25 June 1954 - 19 September 1954), Norwich 1954
-
1972A. Smith, 'Presented by the Misses Rachel F. and Jean I. Alexander: Seventeen Paintings for the National Gallery', The Burlington Magazine, CXIV, 1972, pp. 630-4
-
1972National Gallery, The Alexander Gift (exh. cat., National Gallery, 10 August 1972 - 17 September 1972), London 1972
-
1973The National Gallery, The National Gallery: January 1971 - December 1972, London 1973
-
1973S. Reiss, Aelbert Cuyp in British Collections (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 3 January - 11 February 1973), London 1973
-
1976C. Brown, Art in Seventeenth Century Holland (exh. cat. The National Gallery, 30 September - 12 December 1976), London 1976
-
1991Maclaren, Neil, revised by Christopher Brown, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 1600-1900, 2nd edn (revised and expanded), 2 vols, London 1991
-
1996J. Giltaij et al., Lof der zeevart (Praise of Ships and the Sea) (exh. cat. Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, 21 December 1996 - 23 February 1997; Gemäldegalerie, 21 March 1997 - 25 May 1997), Rotterdam 1996
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this work or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.