Johannes Hermanus Koekkoek (17 August 1778 — 9 January 1851) was a Dutch painter and draughtsman.

Life and work

He was the founding father of what would become the famous . He and his wife, Anna née Koolwijk, had four sons who all became painters: Barend Cornelis, Marinus Adrianus, , and

Hermanus Hermanus (originally called ''Hermanuspietersfontein'', but shortened in 1902 as the name was too long for the postal service

. Most of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren would also follow careers in art.Guido de Werd: "Die Malerfamilie Koekkoek", In: ''Barend Cornelis Koekkoek (1803–1862), seine Familie, seine Schule und das B.C. Koekkoek-Haus in Kleve'', Koekkoek-Haus, 2000, Around 1800, he left his home and moved to

Middelburg Middelburg may refer to: Places and jurisdictions Europe * Middelburg, Zeeland, the capital city of the province of Zeeland, southwestern Netherlands ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Middelburg, a former Catholic diocese with its see in the Zeeland ...

. There, he found work at a carpet and wallpaper factory owned by Thomas Gaal, a decorative painter, who gave him his first lessons. He also took classes at the Middelburg Drawing Academy, where he studied with plaster models and learned

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a Burin (engraving), burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or Glass engraving, glass ...

. In 1803, he was honored with the title, "Primus van de Academie". Following his education, he worked as an art teacher, but soon decided to become a free-lance artist. In 1826, he moved to

Durgerdam Durgerdam is a village in the Dutch province of North Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Amsterdam, and lies about 7 km east of the city centre, along the dyke of the IJmeer. Durgerdam is a part of the ''deelgemeente'' (sub-munici ...

, near Amsterdam, where he would live and work until 1833. He initially combined seascapes and

cityscape In the visual arts, a cityscape (urban landscape) is an artistic representation, such as a painting, drawing, print or photograph, of the physical aspects of a city or urban area. It is the urban equivalent of a landscape. ''Townscape'' is ...

s but, in his later years, focused entirely on ocean scenes. Much of his inspiration came from the painters of the

Dutch Golden Age The Dutch Golden Age ( nl, Gouden Eeuw ) was a period in the history of the Netherlands, roughly spanning the era from 1588 (the birth of the Dutch Republic) to 1672 (the Rampjaar, "Disaster Year"), in which Dutch trade, science, and Dutch art, ...

. His style was essentially Realistic, but also showed elements of the newer Romantic aesthetic. Rather than merely paint ships, he also learned as much as he could about the different types. In 1833, he moved into Amsterdam, but also worked in

Medemblik Medemblik () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland and the region of West-Frisia. It lies immediately south of the polder and former municipality of Wieringermeer. History Medemblik was a prosperous ...

and

Katwijk aan Zee Katwijk aan Zee (literally, ''Katwijk-upon-Sea'') is a seaside resort located on the North Sea at the mouth of the Oude Rijn. It is situated in the municipality of Katwijk and the province of South Holland. History The Origin till the Gol ...

. He died in Amsterdam, aged seventy-two. His works may be seen at the

Rijksmuseum Amsterdam The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the Ste ...

, the

Dordrechts Museum Dordrechts Museum is an art museum in Dordrecht, Netherlands. The museum was founded in 1842 and has a collection of artists of the last 400 years. Paintings The museum has works of the following artists: Gallery File:Portrait of Cornelis van ...

, and the in Oss. Many of his paintings were sold to collectors in Germany and England.

Selected paintings

File:JH Koekkoek,mSlag om Kopenhagen.jpg, ''The Battle of Copenhagen'' (1813) File:JH Koekkoek, Ships in a squall.jpg, ''Ships in a Squall'' (1831) File:Johannes Hermanus Koekkoek - Unloading the catch.jpg, ''Unloading the Catch'' File:Johannes Hermanus Koekkoek - Ships in stormy seas.jpg, ''Ships in Stormy Seas'' (1821) File:Koekoek Johannes Hermanus On The Beach.jpg, ''On the Beach'' (1823)

References

External links

More works by Koekkoek
@ ArtNet

@ Artcyclopedia {{DEFAULTSORT:Koekkoek, Johannes Hermanus 1778 births 1851 deaths 19th-century Dutch painters Dutch genre painters Dutch male painters Dutch marine artists People from Veere 19th-century Dutch male artists

Life and work

Selected paintings

References

Further reading

External links