Aelbert Cuyp - a goodly inheritance

A visit to the National Gallery's exhibition of Aelbert Cuyp (1620-91) is an experience of calm pleasure - these peaceful sunlit paintings of the Dutch landscape hold no hint of conflict or foreboding.

So it is difficult to realise that they were painted towards the end of a long and bitter struggle for the survival of the Dutch nation - and that the centre of that struggle was the theology of the Reformation.

The Netherlands (which included what are now both Holland and Belgium) had been under Spanish domination for almost a century. In 1555 Philip II of Spain had been given control of the region by his father, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V. The influence of the Reformation had been very strong in this area - so that Philip's immediate edict against Protestantism sparked a widespread revolt in Antwerp, and other cities. This was cruelly put down by the Duke of Alva and his forces. A 'reign of terror' began, during which huge numbers of Protestants - including many artists - fled north. Among them was Cuyp's grandfather, Gerrit Gerritsz Cuyp, a glazier, who settled in Dordrecht.

Elder and artist

However, in 1579, the seven northern provinces (what we now call Holland) came together in the Treaty of Utrecht, under Prince William of Orange, to resist the Spanish. Despite William's assassination only five years later, the long war continued (despite a 12-year truce) until 1648, when at last Spain accepted defeat and Dutch independence was finally recognised.

During all this time the Cuyp family had remained and prospered as artists in Dordrecht. The town was an important centre for the Dutch Reformed church. In 1618-19 the Synod of Dordrecht had set out their Calvinistic principles and pattern of worship, and instigated the translation of the Bible into Dutch. Cuyp himself - a man of 'irreproachable character' - became a church elder in his later years.

Cuyp's paintings have often been compared to Italian views of Arcadia - the golden land of classical legend where man lives in harmony with nature. Although he never travelled to Italy, his treatment of light was influenced by the Utrecht painter Jan Both, who had spent three years in Rome. Cuyp's landscapes are also similar to those of his French contemporary Claude Lorraine - who used the Roman Campagna as a backdrop for subjects from classical literature. However, the exhibition catalogue makes clear that Dutch Protestants had their own biblically-based understanding of the 'golden age'.They saw themselves like Israel, who after their trials in the wilderness had fought off their oppressors, under the hand of God, to take possession of the Promised Land The idea of a 'Golden Age' for them represented the future, and not the past.

Cuyp had reached the peak of his career by the 1650s - shortly after Holland's independence. His countryside is at peace, travellers journey safely, and all is bathed in a translucent light which is like a symbol of God's blessing on the land. The number of cattle seem like a visual expression of a land flowing with milk - if not honey!

After the war

Another exhibition currently on show in London, Transition - the British Art Scene in the Fifties, also shows a country emerging from the austerities of war. The exhibition starts with David Bomberg's famous image of St. Paul's surrounded by the remains of bombed buildings., and a context to the pictures is provided by pages from old newspapers and magazines. Many of the paintings, although powerful, are angst-ridden and 'edgy', struggling with issues realism and abstraction in a changing society.

Yet one does not feel that Cuyp is complacent. His countryside is really very ordinary. It is only the radiance of light which makes it beautiful. Although there are hints of the vigilance that must be maintained - such as the Dutch fleet massing at Dordrecht - the sea is calm.

The Netherlands, as everyone knows, rarely enjoys such Mediterranean weather. But the Dutch landscapists - as H.R. Rookmaaker points out - are not just giving us a narrow photographic reality. Cuyp delights in the visual world, but also uses it to show us something deeper in human experience - the greater reality of God's protection and blessing. His calm is one of trust and expectation.

Aelbert Cuyp is at the National Gallery until May 12. Admission £7 (£5 concessions). Advance bookings 0870 906 3891.
Transition - the London Art Scene in the Fifties is at the Barbican Art Gallery until April 14.

Aelbert Cuyp - a goodly inheritance

Elder and artist

After the war

Anne Roberts

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