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Cuyp's earliest dated landscapes of 1639 are astonishingly eclectic, but by 1641 he was painting panoramic views of the Dutch countryside in the monochromatic mode of van Goyen. The young Cuyp, however, favoured a distinct yellow tonality as against van Goyen greyish and brown hues. More important for Cuyp's subsequent development was the impact of Dutch landscapists who brought an Italianate style from Rome back to Holland; Cuyp himself never travelled to the south.
Since very few of Cuyp's landscapes are dated, and none is dated after 1645, it is difficult to say precisely when the characteristic golden light, reminiscent of the Campagna the artist never saw, replaces the earlier paler one, and when mountain ranges, herds of cattle, and figures conspicuously set off against a sky begin to play an important role in his compositions. But by 1645 distinct traces of the style of Cornelis Poelenburgh, a member of the first generation of Italianate painters, and Jan Both, the leading artist of the following generation of Italianate landscapists, are evident. Jan Both became Cuyp's principal source of inspiration. The River-bank with Cows shows how rapidly he assimilated Both's motifs and sun-drenched light. From this time onward golden sunlight becomes the all-pervading element in Cuyp's paintings. It spreads warmth and beauty over the Dutch countryside, where sturdy animals - most often cows - take place of human heroes.
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