Lot 2168 Dα

This composition embodies summer, with a rider, a shepherd and a cow on a path leading into a forest, and a small stream on the left edge of the picture bathed in warm, golden light. The embodiment of winter in the second painting is a snow-covered riverside path with numerous figures, jagged rocks and a view of a castle complex on a hill, depicted in the cold, clear light of a frosty winter day. Despite their small format, these two pendents contain an impressive wealth of detail and finesse in their execution. They are a beautiful example of Barend Cornelis Koekkoek's preference for depicting the seasonal contrasts of summer and winter. However, there does not seem to be a cycle of all four seasons by his hand. The two paintings, dated 1854, are also a striking example of the more complex landscape depictions painted during the artist's more mature phase, in contrast to the earlier works, which feature simpler compositions with panoramic landscapes. Ultimately, however, Koekkoek, who is considered the most important landscape painter of Dutch Romanticism although he moved to Kleve in 1834, was always concerned with depicting the beauty of nature and the harmony between man and the natural world.

The reverse of each of the panels bears a label with a hand-written confirmation of authenticity by the artist. Summer: “Dit Schilderijtje, voorstellende een / Boomrijk Landschap bij namiddag / Zon, is geschilderd in het jaar 1854 / Door den Ondergeteekende / B:C: Koekkoek“, Winter: “Dit Schilderijtje, voor[stellende] / Een Boom in rotsachtig [landschap] / bij Winter, is geschilderd in /1854 door den Ondergeteeken[de] / B:C: Koekkoek“ (the label on “Winter“ with some missing spots).
Each also bears a label with the coat-of-arms of the Count of Bylandt (with minor losses on the “Summer“) and the Kunstsalon Herm. Abels in Cologne.

We would like to thank Dr Guido de Werd for confirming these paintings to be the works of Barend Cornelis Koekkoek. He intends to include the pieces in his forthcoming catalogue raisonné.