A Cockerel, Chickens and Chicks by the base of a Tree

CORNELIA DE RYCK  

b. 1656

Dutch School

A Cockerel, Chickens and Chicks by the base of a Tree

Oil on Canvas  

76.5 x 64 cms

301/8 x 25 ¼ inches

Ex Collection: Cheffin Grove Family, Waddon Manor, Dorset

Cornelia de Ryck was born in Delft in 1656 and became known as a painter of birds, poultry and farmyard scenes.

She was a pupil of the history and portrait painter, Gerrit Rademaker but her great influence was the important Dutch painter of birds, Melchior d`Hondecoeter who was very influential both in his lifetime and after his death. Ryck`s style is less rich and animated than the master but her animals are particularly natural and redolent of Jacobus Victors.

Something of a rarity for being a professional female artist in the 17th century, she married twice, both times to artists. First she was the wife of van Goor in Amsterdam and later to the portrait painter and poet Smion Schynvoet.

There is a collection of her works in Budapest.