The Dordrechts Museum is a masterpiece richer. It is on long-term loan with an early work by the English landscape painter Turner.
It’s about the painting Whalley Bridge and Abbey from ca 1811. Turner is England’s most famous artist. His work is rarely on the market.
It is a dream for director Peter Schoon: “What Rembrandt is to the Netherlands, Turner is to England. It is a great asset to the museum.”
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Whalley Bridge and Abbey, the work of Turner
The Dordrechts Museum
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The work of William Turner (1775-1851) rarely appears on the art market. His oeuvre, known for his fiercely glowing seascapes, is mainly in the possession of English museums. There is only one other Turner in the Netherlands, at Museum de Fundatie in Zwolle.
As a museum, you don’t just get an asset like this thrown into your lap. A private collector bought the Turner at auction at Sotheby’s last year, in consultation with the museum. “We’ve been working on this for years,” says Schoon. “As a museum, you maintain contacts with numerous collectors who try to interest you in your collection and to bind you to it. Long talks have also taken place with this collector. A whole process precedes it.”
Cuyp as a source of inspiration
According to Schoon, Turner’s work fits in nicely with Albert Cuyps’ own collection. The latter was a great example for Turner.
Albert Cuyp (1620-1691) was born and raised in Dordrecht. Where he was regarded as a good local artist in the Netherlands, there was a real Cuyp craze in England. By the time the Netherlands also discovered Cuyp’s talent, it was too late. English collectors had already bought up his work en masse from 1750 onwards. England has the most Albert Cuyps worldwide, not the Netherlands.
Clean: “With this beautiful painting we give our own Cuyp a different place, much broader and more international. We show that Dutch 17th-century painting, and Cuyp in particular, was an international source of inspiration.”
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Portrait of William Turner
The Dordrechts Museum
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As of today Whalley Bridge and Abbey so a permanent place between the landscapes and cows of source of inspiration Albert Cuyp.
Turner would have thought it honorable. “Cuyp’s influences are clearly visible in this early work,” says curator of ancient art Sander Paarlberg. “Especially the golden light, that misty atmosphere and the stillness during a sunset made a deep impression on Turner. You notice that he must have seen several paintings by Cuyp. Characteristic is ‘the backlight effect’ on the left side of Whalley Bridge (see earlier in this article). The sun itself is out of the picture, but you can see the effect as a misty glow over the painting.”
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Another example of Cuyp’s work where the golden light is clearly visible
The Dordrechts Museum
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As an avid traveler, Turner visited Dordrecht, the city of his idol, four times from 1817. Wherever he went, Turner always carried a sketchbook with him, some 300 of which are in the possession of London’s Tate Britain museum.
Paarlberg started looking for the locations on the basis of the sketches. The majority are still recognizable, such as the Grote Kerk, the Wijnhaven and the Boombrug. “Despite Turner’s photographic memory, Turner was unable to spell the tricky name Cuyp correctly,” says Paarlberg. He sprinkles with variations such as Cyup, Cyp and Cup, and even proudly mentions in a sketch that, according to him, has a Cuypian feel: ‘quite a Cyp.'” To finally mention the correct ‘Cuyp’ in 1830.
Museum director Peter Schoon explains that, together with the Turner, the collection will acquire a broader international context. “That is also important for the Netherlands Collection. And for our visitors of course. This makes us proud.”
Turners Whalley Bridge and Abbey can now be seen in the Dordrechts Museum. The exhibition ‘In the light of Cuyp’ opens on 3 October.
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