Contact gallery for price		Cornelis Christiaan Dommelshuizen Utrecht 1842 – 1928 The Hague Capriccio View of a Dutch City Oil on canvas 31 1/4 x 41 1/2 inches (79.4 x 105.4 cm) Framed: 39 1/2 x 50 inches Signed: Ch. Dommelshuizen Cornelis Christiann Dommelshuizen was born in Utrecht in 1842. He was primarily self-taught and traveled to America, Belgium, England and France where he became familiar with the major schools of painting dominant in each of those countries. He eventually settled in The Haague and specialized in painting town scenes, scenes on the water, and views along riverbanks. He exhibited in Amsterdam from 1860 until 1892, as well as in various places throughout Holland. He was also known to have signed his name as C. Dommerson, as well as Chr. Dommelshuizen. In our composition, Dommelshuizen skillfully renders a capriccio, or fantasy view of a Dutch city, combining well-known buildings from the cities of Groningen, Leiden, and Utrecht. The use of the capriccio was common for artists working in Italy during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, including masters such as Claude Lorraine and Giovanni Paolo Panini, who painted such scenes for tourists who traveled to Rome. Famous sites were depicted in a single landscape that served as a visual record of the many places that the traveler had visited. In this canvas, Dommelshuizen adopts this method to a Dutch view, linking his homeland with a well-established classical tradition. This idealized architectural panorama steeped in the soft light of the late afternoon. The imposing size of the canvas is relieved by the sensitivity with which the artist handles his subject. Featured is a landscape of stone pathways weaving alongside a canal, as tall stone buildings stretch elegantly into the sky. Calm daily patterns of everyday life are carried out within the space of the picture, organized by way of architectural lines and the planes of buildings, walkways and a bridge. The light and color grow warmer and brighter as the space within the painting recedes. This use of color, the forms of the buildings and the depictions of the townspeople all lend veracity to Dommelshuizen’s depiction of 17th Century Dutch life, as communicated by the artist through the poetic language of his painting.