Benjamin Gerritsz CUYP
1612–1652, Netherlands

Among the Cuyp dynasty of painters of Dordrecht, Benjamin Gerritsz. Cuyp is the least known. In contrast to his half brother Jacob Gerritsz. Cuyp (1594–1650) and his nephew Albert Cuyp (1620–1691), Benjamin spent most of his working life outside his native town. He first went to The Hague in the fourties and subsequently settled in Utrecht. As pointed out by G. Seelig in Saur’s Lexikon, 1999, XXIII, p. 238, Benjamin Gerritsz. oeuvre consists of Biblical, mostly New Testament scenes, which in their use of a strong chiaroscuro show indebtness to Rembrandt and of genre scenes of low life and soldiers, which reveal influence from Isaac and Adriaen van Ostade from Haarlem. The present painting belongs to the latter group and is to be compared with the painting in Museum Rembrandthuis, Amsterdam, on loan from Instituut Collectie Nederland (see Old master paintings. An illustrated summary catalogue. Rijksdienst Beeldende Kunst/The Netherlandish Office for the Fine Arts, Zwolle-Den Haag 1992, p. 77, nr 525).

Source: www.uppsalaauktion.se