# Willem Koekkoek artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/willem-koekkoek/
Profile generated: 2026-05-27T23:01:30.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1839-01-03
- Death date: 1895-01-29
- Nationality: Dutch
- Movements: 19th-century Dutch Romantic painting
- Common media: oil painting, drawing

## About Willem Koekkoek

Willem Koekkoek (1839–1895) was a Dutch painter and draftsperson known for detailed cityscapes and marine subjects. Born in Amsterdam, he was the second son of Hermanus Koekkoek I and part of the prolific Koekkoek family of painters, which included his uncle Barend Cornelis Koekkoek, one of the most celebrated Dutch landscape painters of the 19th century. Working in the Dutch Romantic tradition, Willem Koekkoek produced town views, harbour scenes, and coastal subjects that captured the character of Netherlands waterways and streets. His work is documented in the RKD with over one thousand image records, reflecting a substantial and productive career. Collectors most often encounter his paintings in 19th-century European and Dutch-Flemish sale categories.

## Common works and media

Koekkoek's most commonly encountered works are oil-on-canvas or oil-on-panel cityscapes depicting Dutch town squares, canal views, and harbour settings. Marine scenes with coastal shipping activity and beach views also appear frequently. Drawings and watercolours of similar subjects are less common but do surface at auction. Paintings range from small cabinet-sized panels to larger gallery-scale canvases. Signed works are typical, but attribution can be complicated by the shared family style.

## Market and appraisal context

Willem Koekkoek's works appear regularly at auction, with over 200 recorded lots. Values are influenced by the painting's subject (detailed cityscapes tend to attract stronger interest than generic marine scenes), canvas dimensions, condition, and the quality of provenance documentation. Because several members of the Koekkoek family painted similar subjects, correct attribution is important: collectors should verify signatures and, where possible, consult RKD records or auction-house catalogue notes to confirm authorship. Works with clear family provenance or exhibition history may command higher results.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine artist identity research from authority files and art-historical databases with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For this artist, sources include the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, Getty ULAN, VIAF, and Wikidata.

## Sources

- RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/45311
- VIAF / OCLC: https://viaf.org/viaf/95878021/
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2244591
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willem_Koekkoek
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500031866