A Hilly River Landscape (with a Horseman talking to a Shepherdess) (oil on canvas, 135 x 201.5 cm) was painted by Cuyp in the late 1650s or the 1660s. It was purchased by the National Gallery, London in 1824 (No. 53) and could have been seen on any of Ruskin 's many visits to the gallery. Cook and Wedderburn designate it An Evening Landscape. Stephen Reiss attributes the painting to the Studio of Aelbert Cuyp; he writes that,
This picture has undeniable qualities and, had it been possible to give it a date earlier in the painter's career, acceptance would not have been so difficult. But iconological factors point strongly towards the 1660s, by which time - if he was still painting - Cuyp's style was already highly formal and sophisticated... More than any other painting it seems to stand on the borderline between Cuyp and his imitators, and possesses a certain geniality which has not previously been so clearly marked. On the other hand, the structure is weak, facile and inconsistent. ( Reiss, Aelbert Cuyp, p. 143)
Aelbert Cuyp 1620-91
A Hilly River Landscape with a Horseman talking to a Shepherdess c.1655-60
Oil on canvas, 135x201.5cm
Provenance: Sir Lawrence Dundas by 1794; bought by J.J. Angerstein; bought with the J.J. Angerstein collection, 1824
Collection: National Gallery, London
For a reproduction of this artistic work, please consult: Baker, C., Henry, T., The National Gallery Complete Illustrated Catalogue, (National Gallery Publications, 1995), p.167