Hermanus Koekkoek Biography
Hermanus Koekkoek, sometimes called "the Old Man" (1815 - 1882), was a Dutch painter, printmaker and graphic designer specializing in seascapes. He was a member of the famous Koekkoek painting family, son of Johannes Hermanus Koekkoek and brother of the landscape painters Barend Cornelis, Johannes and Marinus Adrianus. His sons, Hermanus (the Younger), Willem, Johannes Hermanus Barend and Hendrik Barend, all became painters.
It was his father who offered Hermanus his first art lessons. In 1826, his family moved to Durgerdam, near Amsterdam, where Hermanus attended the Rijksakademie and began his career as an artist. Like his father, he concentrated on portraits of marines, however his subjects are very varied. His style was a combination of realism and romantic taste. The influences of the artists of the Dutch Golden Age are also clearly visible.
He was a member of the Royal Academy of Art and of the artists' society Arti et Amicitiae of Rotterdam. He won a gold medal at one of their exhibitions in 1875. Many of his works were sold in Germany and England.
In 1882 he moved to Haarlem, where he died the same year at 67. His works can be seen at the Teylers Museum and the Boijmans van Beuningen Museum. The Rijksprentenkabinet of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam holds a collection of his drawings.
