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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.


Johannes Koekkoek | Ships sailing in Zeeland waters, oil on panel, 30.0 x 38.9 cm, signed l.r. and dated 1829

Johannes Koekkoek

painting • for sale

Ships sailing in Zeeland waters

Johannes Koekkoek | Sailing ships on Dutch inland waters, oil on panel, 32.3 x 44.8 cm, signed l.r. and dated 1829

Johannes Koekkoek

painting • for sale

Sailing ships on Dutch inland waters

Andrei Cambi | The shepherdess ( a pair with the accordeonist), marble, 132.0 x 54.0 cm, dated 1890

Andrei Cambi

statue • sculptuur • for sale

The shepherdess ( a pair with the accordeonist)

Andrei Cambi | The accordeonist (a pair with 15881 Country girl), marble, 132.0 x 54.0 cm, signed on the back and dated 'Firenze 1891'

Andrei Cambi

statue • sculptuur • for sale

The accordeonist (a pair with 15881 Country girl)

Jacoba van der Stok | Still life with flowers and fruit on a ledge, oil on panel, 26.2 x 30.1 cm, signed l.r. and dated 1840

Jacoba van der Stok

painting • for sale

Still life with flowers and fruit on a ledge

Petrus Paulus Schiedges | Sailing ship off the English coast, oil on panel, 25.5 x 36.4 cm, signed l.l. and dated '62

Petrus Paulus Schiedges

painting • for sale

Sailing ship off the English coast

Marinus Adrianus Koekkoek I | Landscape with old oak trees, pencil on paper, 24.5 x 32.0 cm, signed l.l.

Marinus Adrianus Koekkoek I

watercolour • drawing • for sale

Landscape with old oak trees

Barend Cornelis Koekkoek | Skaters in a winter landscape, oil on panel, 15.5 x 19.5 cm, signed l.c. with initials and painted  jaren '30

Barend Cornelis Koekkoek

painting • for sale

Skaters in a winter landscape

Hermanus Koekkoek jr. | Children fishing along a riverbank, watercolour on paper, 22.0 x 32.0 cm, signed l.r.

Hermanus Koekkoek jr.

watercolour • drawing • for sale

Children fishing along a riverbank

Johannes Franciscus Spohler | Activity in a Dutch street, oil on canvas, 45.4 x 35.6 cm, signed l.l.

Johannes Franciscus Spohler

painting • for sale

Activity in a Dutch street

Abraham van der Wayen Pieterszen | City gate in snowy landscape, oil on panel, 14.3 x 22.4 cm

Abraham van der Wayen Pieterszen

painting • for sale

City gate in snowy landscape

Jan Jakob Schenkel | Church interior, oil on panel, 34.2 x 27.7 cm, signed l.r.

Jan Jakob Schenkel

painting • for sale

Church interior

Hermanus Koekkoek | Sailing and fishing boats off a jetty, 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

Anthonie Jacobus van Wijngaerdt | A farm on the countryside, oil on panel, 27.5 x 43.5 cm, signed l.l.

Anthonie Jacobus van Wijngaerdt

painting • for sale

A farm on the countryside

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

Willem Pieter Hoevenaar | Two elegant ladies taking a summer stroll, oil on panel, 31.3 x 25.5 cm, signed l.l. with monogram

Willem Pieter Hoevenaar

painting • for sale

Two elegant ladies taking a summer stroll

Charles Leickert | A river landscape in summer, oil on panel, 25.0 x 40.0 cm, signed l.r.

Charles Leickert

painting • for sale

A river landscape in summer

Charles Leickert | Skaters on a frozen waterway near the 'Leidsche Hek' in Oegstgeest, oil on panel, 25.0 x 40.0 cm, signed l.r.

Charles Leickert

painting • for sale

Skaters on a frozen waterway near the 'Leidsche Hek' in Oegstgeest

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 | 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

Lodewijk Johannes Kleijn | Ice scene with skaters and sleds, oil on panel, 23.0 x 31.7 cm, signed l.r.

Lodewijk Johannes Kleijn

painting • for sale

Ice scene with skaters and sleds

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

Christiaan Immerzeel | A boat trip by night, oil on panel, 46.7 x 37.3 cm, signed l.l.

Christiaan Immerzeel

painting • for sale

A boat trip by night

Charles Leickert | View in a Dutch village, oil on panel, 12.8 x 18.9 cm, signed l.r. with initials

Charles Leickert

painting • for sale

View in a Dutch village

Willem Hendrik Eickelberg | A snowy forest road, oil on canvas, 45.4 x 33.4 cm, signed l.l.

Willem Hendrik Eickelberg

painting • for sale

A snowy forest road

Nicolaas Riegen | Fishing boats and fisherfolk in the surf, oil on panel, 31.2 x 41.7 cm, signed l.l.

Nicolaas Riegen

painting • 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

Charles Leickert | Busy street in the snow, oil on canvas, 72.7 x 52.0 cm, signed l.r. and dated  '82

Charles Leickert

painting • for sale

Busy street in the snow