Cornelis Lieste

Cornelis Lieste (1817-1861) was a Dutch painter and lithographer who specialised in landscapes in the Romantic style. His work is best understood against the background of his training and the places he travelled to during his short life.

In 1835 he was enrolled at the Vocational School, where he studied drawing, and from 1837 to 1838 he learned landscape painting from Nicolaas Johannes Roosenboom. In 1839 he won a silver medal at an exhibition in 's-Hertogenbosch, and a study trip through Belgium and Germany followed. Many of his sketches were drawn in the dunes of North Holland.

In 1846 he became a member of the artists' society Kunst Zij Ons Doel and was appointed to the Royal Academy of Art in Amsterdam the same year. In 1852 he helped decorate the Parkzaal in Amsterdam during the celebration of Rembrandt's 400th birthday. His journeys to the Rhine region, Switzerland and northern Italy gave him the chance to paint some of his rare mountain landscapes. From 1854 to 1856 he was a regular guest at the artists' colony in Oosterbeek, and shortly before his death he toured Twente and Drenthe, sketching dolmens alongside his usual landscapes.

He died in 1861 of an unspecified chest disease, leaving a young family behind. Among his best known students were Hendrik Dirk Kruseman van Elten and Paul Gabriël. His works are held by the Rijksmuseum, the Amsterdam Museum, the Teylers Museum, the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen and the Stedelijk Museum Zwolle.