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Romanticism paintings art movement • artists • artworks for sale

The first half of the 19th century was the heyday of Romanticism. Painting from this period was initially strongly inspired by that of the Golden Age. On the one hand, this was the result of the appreciation at home and abroad for Dutch 17th-century masters. In addition, there was a growing nationalism in our country, fed by the French Napoleonic rule (1795-1813) and reinforced by the secession from Belgium in 1830. In search of their own identity, people looked back with pride on the Golden Age, a period of great prosperity: Holland ruled the oceans, artists such as Rembrandt and Frans Hals painted their most famous canvases and the oversized Town Hall (later Palace) was built on Dam Square, as a symbol of the power and prosperity of the Republic. The Romantic painters were inspired by subjects that were popular in the 17th century, such as interior, landscape, cityscape, seascape and genre painting. The romantic attitude to life was a reaction to the rationalist thinking of the 18th century Enlightenment.

In search of the ideal landscape
The romantic feeling and thinking focused on nature. The landscape painter was struck by its greatness, by its serene beauty, but also by its whimsical and sometimes devastating power. Raging storms, threatening thunderstorms, harsh frost and sometimes shipwrecks triggered strong emotions in the artist. But the quiet, untouched nature could also touch him deeply: mysterious moon nights, almost empty ice plains in the late afternoon sun and idyllic mountain landscapes at a "golden" sunset. Landscape painting focused on the insignificance of man in relation to the overwhelming nature. Large-scale panoramic views, such as those of Andreas Schelfhout, and forest views with impressive voodoo oaks by B.C. Koekkoek and his students are evidence of this. The romantic landscape painting is not an exact representation of nature as it presented itself to the painter. It appears to be painted deceptively true to nature, but is in fact a composite of the most beautiful parts of reality. To this end, nature had to be studied and sketched. Painters made studies on their journeys, often spontaneous impressions, which they used in the studio to create idealized images. Beauty and decency were considered important, a painting had to be pleasant to look at and surpass reality in beauty.

Painters in other genres also worked according to this ideal. As far as one can now ascertain, cityscapes were sometimes topographically correct, but usually the painters tinkered with a composition until a beautiful whole was obtained. The historicizing Dutch cityscape was very popular in the 19th century, both at home and abroad. One of the most important interpreters of the cityscape was the Amsterdam Cornelis Springer. From about 1875 he painted meticulous city portraits with a town hall or rich merchant houses in the Dutch Renaissance style at the center of the image, often furnished with figures in 17th-century clothing. In doing so, he embellished reality somewhat through changes in the composition and the omission of disturbing, contemporary elements. By depicting the 16th and early 17th century buildings, he responded to the growing interest of buyers in their own past. Springer was also loved for his realistic details and lively upholstery, borrowed from everyday life.

This was also found in the beach scene, for example. In English and French Romanticism, painters sometimes turned the beach into a scene of drama and agony, where shipwrecks took place in a flying storm, in Dutch Romanticism the quieter beach scenes predominated, with ships safe on dry land and the everyday activity of fishermen. Interior scenes reflected the bourgeois conservatism of this time. The 17th century also served as an example here: peeks into Old Dutch bourgeois houses, with figures in ditto clothing, strict wooden furniture, black and white tiled floors and stained glass windows. But also church interiors à la Pieter Jansz. Saenredam and Emanuel de Witte were painted. In addition to historicizing 17th-century scenes, later living styles can be found in Romanticism in paintings of rococo, neoclassical or Biedermeier interiors.

The romantic penchant for the past and glorification of nature manifested itself as a political, social and cultural phenomenon. The above shows that painting from the first half of the 19th century was also profoundly influenced by this. Not only did artists paint history pieces, with the glorious national past as their subject, but an idealized, typical (Old) Dutch atmosphere image was also created in other ways.


Barend Cornelis Koekkoek | Skaters in a winter landscape, oil on panel, 15.5 x 19.5 cm, signed l.c. with initials and painted ca. 1830

Barend Cornelis Koekkoek

painting • for sale

Skaters in a winter landscape

Hermanus Koekkoek | Sailing and fishing boats off a jetty in a calm, oil on canvas, 38.3 x 54.5 cm, signed l.l. and dated 1858

Hermanus Koekkoek

painting • for sale

Sailing and fishing boats off a jetty in a calm

Jan H.B. Koekkoek | Ships near the coast in a stiff breeze, oil on canvas, 41.5 x 59.2 cm, signed l.r.

Jan H.B. Koekkoek

painting • for sale

Ships near the coast in a stiff breeze

Jan Weissenbruch | A walk in a sunny city, oil on panel, 19.0 x 14.9 cm, signed l.r.

Jan Weissenbruch

painting • for sale

A walk in a sunny city

Hermanus Koekkoek | Ships anchored off the coast in calm weather, oil on canvas, 102.5 x 160.0 cm, signed l.r. and dated 1841

Hermanus Koekkoek

painting • for sale

Ships anchored off the coast in calm weather

Johannes Hermanus Koekkoek | Shipping off the coast, oil on canvas, 57.3 x 72.0 cm, signed l.r. and dated 1831

Johannes Hermanus Koekkoek

painting • for sale

Shipping off the coast

Hermanus Koekkoek | Sailing ships in a rising storm, oil on canvas, 63.9 x 85.4 cm

Hermanus Koekkoek

painting • for sale

Sailing ships in a rising storm

Charles Leickert | Dutch winter with skaters at sunset, oil on panel, 33.8 x 48.2 cm, signed l.r.

Charles Leickert

painting • for sale

Dutch winter with skaters at sunset

Nicolaas Riegen | Fishing boats and fisherfolk in the surf, phenolic resin, 31.2 x 41.7 cm, signed l.l.

Nicolaas Riegen

statue • sculptuur • for sale

Fishing boats and fisherfolk in the surf

J.G. Hans | Homewards after haymaking, oil on panel, 21.2 x 29.0 cm, signed l.l. and dated '47

J.G. Hans

painting • for sale

Homewards after haymaking

Hermanus Koekkoek | A strong breeze on the Dutch coast with a village ahead, oil on canvas, 37.0 x 57.7 cm, signed l.l.

Hermanus Koekkoek

painting • for sale

A strong breeze on the Dutch coast with a village ahead

Conradijn Cunaeus | Hunting scene near Barneveld, the Oude Kerk in the distance, oil on panel, 21.7 x 32.2 cm, signed l.l.

Conradijn Cunaeus

painting • for sale

Hunting scene near Barneveld, the Oude Kerk in the distance

Barend Cornelis Koekkoek | River valley in summer, oil on canvas, 46.5 x 58.5 cm, signed l.r. and painted ca. 1828

Barend Cornelis Koekkoek

painting • for sale

River valley in summer

Barend Cornelis Koekkoek | Forest view with cattle, oil on panel, 69.1 x 90.2 cm, signed l.r. and dated 1853

Barend Cornelis Koekkoek

painting • for sale

Forest view with cattle

Johannes Franciscus Spohler | Daily activities in a sunlit street, oil on canvas, 44.3 x 35.3 cm, signed l.r.

Johannes Franciscus Spohler

painting • for sale

Daily activities in a sunlit street

Willem Koekkoek | Sunny village street with figures, oil on panel, 28.7 x 35.7 cm, signed l.r. and dated 1861

Willem Koekkoek

painting • for sale

Sunny village street with figures

Adriana Haanen | Mixed flowers in basket with urn in background on stone ledge, oil on canvas, 73.5 x 53.7 cm, signed l.c. and dated 1857

Adriana Haanen

painting • for sale

Mixed flowers in basket with urn in background on stone ledge

Willem Bodeman | A farmer's wife with cattle and a traveler on a forest path, oil on panel, 58.8 x 49.0 cm, signed l.l.

Willem Bodeman

painting • for sale

A farmer's wife with cattle and a traveler on a forest path

Antonius Josephus Madlener | An extensive river landscape with a shepherd and flock, oil on panel, 21.7 x 29.7 cm, signed l.r. and dated '54

Antonius Josephus Madlener

painting • for sale

An extensive river landscape with a shepherd and flock

Jan Jacob Spohler | Ice scene with skaters, sleds and a 'koek-en-zopie', oil on canvas, 82.2 x 59.7 cm

Jan Jacob Spohler

painting • for sale

Ice scene with skaters, sleds and a 'koek-en-zopie'

Frans de Beul | Sheep in the stable, oil on panel, 34.3 x 23.2 cm, signed l.l. and dated 1883

Frans de Beul

painting • for sale

Sheep in the stable

Constant P. Boon | The flirtation, oil on panel, 62.1 x 52.9 cm, signed l.l. and dated AN '57

Constant P. Boon

painting • for sale

The flirtation

Jan van Os | Flower still life with fruit, a mouse and a bird's nest, oil on panel, 69.7 x 55.1 cm, signed l.l. and dated 1774

Jan van Os

painting • for sale

Flower still life with fruit, a mouse and a bird's nest

Jan H.B. Koekkoek | Ships off the coast in calm weather, oil on canvas, 43.4 x 62.0 cm, signed l.l.

Jan H.B. Koekkoek

painting • for sale

Ships off the coast in calm weather

Andreas Schelfhout | Winter landscape with approaching blizzard, oil on panel, 25.8 x 32.5 cm, signed l.l.

Andreas Schelfhout

painting • for sale

Winter landscape with approaching blizzard

Andreas Schelfhout | Eearly morning at the shipyard, oil on panel, 25.4 x 32.8 cm, signed l.l.

Andreas Schelfhout

painting • for sale

Eearly morning at the shipyard

Jan Jacob Spohler | Ice scene with skaters near a windmill on a cloudy day, oil on panel, 24.1 x 31.7 cm, signed l.r.

Jan Jacob Spohler

painting • for sale

Ice scene with skaters near a windmill on a cloudy day

Jan Jakob Schenkel | Interior of the St. Bavo Church, Haarlem, oil on panel, 59.9 x 46.1 cm, signed l.r.

Jan Jakob Schenkel

painting • for sale

Interior of the St. Bavo Church, Haarlem