Graceful barnyard, large oil on canvas, 35 x 50 1/2 inches, relined. Provenance, Westmount, collection. Note: Albert Cuyp’s graceful barnyard work is likely one of the last grand paintings of his life. Once Cuyp married in 1658, his artistic career gradually came to a halt. In the early 1650s, Cuyp transitioned away from landscape painting and created many large-scale works that focused on foreground figures. Here, Cuyp depicts various large scale barnyard duck & birds which are highlighted by his masterful use of the full chromatic scale of twilight colors. The application of light brown and straw yellow tones, which Cuyp learned early on in his career from the prolific Dutch painter Jan van Goyen, give the subjects an added depth and luminosity that sets Cuyp’s work apart from his contemporaries.

March 21st. We have added natural light photos, taken outside (at sundown).