Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp

1594 – 1651

Dutch painter and draughtsman, the son of a glass painter and a pupil of Abraham Bloemaert at Utrecht. He entered the Guild of St Luke in Dordrecht in 1617, the same year that he executed an important commission to portray the masters of the Holland Mint (Dordrecht, Museum van Gijn). He was the Guild's bookkeeper in 1629, 1633, 1637 and 1641 and, according to Houbraken, led Dordrecht's fine painters in their separation from the Guild in 1642. Jacob married Aertken van Cooten from Utrecht in 1618; his only child, Aelbert Cuyp, was born two years later. Jacob is thought of today mainly as a portrait painter - his portraits of children are particularly fine - but in old biographies is lauded principally for his views of the countryside around Dordrecht.

View all works →