An Evening Ride near a River by Aelbert Cuyp

A warm evening light weaves its way through this scene as two riders trot down from high ground towards the banks of a river. The rider of the white horse, bathed in golden light, looks towards a couple and their dog, who rest by the pool and watch over a goat and sheep. The couple are barefoot, primed to paddle in the shady water along with their livestock – a contrast with the two riders who are well-dressed in boots, cloaks and even a feathered plumed hat. Bathed in shadow and sunlight respectively, light is used by the artist to demarcate their two worlds.

As the signature in the lower left corner suggests, this painting is by the Dutch artist Aelbert Cuyp (1620-91). Cuyp was born in Dordrecht, where he was baptised and buried in the same church. His father Jacob Gerritsz Cuyp’s (1594-1652) drawings and prints of animals were sources of inspiration for his son’s paintings, as evidenced by the goat, dog and sheep tenderly painted here. Aelbert Cuyp was a leading painter in the Dutch Italianate tradition, creating landscapes flooded with the golden light of the Italian countryside, inspired by the experiences of a group of Dutch artists who had spent time in Rome and its environs. Cuyp appeared to stop painting in 1658 when he married a wealthy widow.