European Art and Old Masters

We wish to thank the Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie, also known as R.K.D., for their kind assistance in authenticating, and cataloguing the present LotThe present painting was likely executed toward the end of Koekkoek’s time in Amsterdam, to which he would return toward the end of his life, bracketed by a brief time in Nieuwer-Amstel. Hermanus was the youngest of four sons born to painter Jan Hermanus Koekkoek, and Koekkoek was arguably the most well-known family of painters in 19th-century Holland. Despite the disappearing clouds, Koekkoek deliberately leaves clear and blue a large swath of the sky at upper center left, indicating that a storm has subsided. The resultant effect is one of calm, stillness, and tranquility, rendered with great optical fidelity, and detail, the shimmering light on the water and along the shore at right adding to the work’s overall charm.