Before the storm

Barend Cornelis Koekkoek (Dutch. Barend Cornelis Koekkoek, October 11, 1803, Middelburg - April 5, 1862, Cleve) - Dutch landscape painter, grew up in an artistic environment. His father Johannes Hermanus Kukkuk (1778-1851) was a renowned marine painter from whom he received his early artistic education. His brothers Hermanus Kukkuk (1815-1882) and Marinus Adrianus Kukkuk (1807-1868) were also successful artists, the first as a marine theme and river scene painter, the second as a landscape painter.
Barend Cornelis Kukkuk became known during his lifetime as the "Prince of Landscape Painting" and was by far the most popular landscape painter of his time. He is considered the founder of the Dutch romantic landscape. Barend Cornelis received endless awards and distinctions, and among his customers were King Frederick William IV of Prussia, Russian Tsar Alexander II and King of the Netherlands Willem II.
He focused on winter and summer forest landscapes. Like other romantic artists such as Caspar David Friedrich, Kukkuk painted tiny figures against the backdrop of majestic nature, opposing the insignificance of man to the greatness of creation.
In search of romance, in the summer of 1834 he moved to Cleves, the old capital of the duchy in Germany, where he found his ideal of nature in the Ahr, Rhine and Ruhr regions. Here he will spend the rest of his life and paint his best landscapes.
Here, his paintings soon filled with large oak trees, winding paths and panoramic views, ranging from vast river valleys to idyllic forest views. In his paintings, writing out the smallest details and conveying the state of the atmosphere were excellently combined. He often dramatized his trees as a means to emphasize the insignificance of man in comparison with nature.