Willem Koekkoek artwork • painting • previously for sale Landscape with village in the background

The son of the marine painter Hermanus Koekkoek Sr. was the only one of the extensive family of painters to specialize in the Dutch cityscape, with Cornelis Springer as his great example. He lived in Amsterdam but made many sketching trips through the Netherlands. In 1888 he must have made a trip to London. Willem Koekkoek's cityscapes are a combination of historical reconstruction and fantasy. His paintings were especially popular abroad because they corresponded to the idyllic image that people had of the old Dutch towns.