Studio of Willem van de Velde, 'Small Dutch Vessels in a Breeze', after 1660
About the work
Overview
Two sailing boats – a flat-bottomed kaag and smaller, more open weyschuit, which had a similar rig – are shown in the foreground. They appear to be at the mouth of a harbour or estuary. One sails towards and the other away from a black buoy. This is a similar composition to another van de Velde painting in the National Gallery: Two Small Vessels and a Dutch Man-of-War in a Breeze.
In the background a man-of-war, or battleship, is at anchor, while another lies in the far distance. A third, to the right, is under sail. The Dutch Navy was one of the most powerful in the world at the time, powerful enough to launch a successful raid on the British Navy around the time this painting was made (the Raid on the Medway in 1667).
This seascape may have been made by artists in van de Velde’s studio, copying an earlier work by him.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Small Dutch Vessels in a Breeze
- Artist
- Studio of Willem van de Velde
- Artist dates
- 1633 - 1707
- Date made
- after 1660
- Medium and support
- oil on wood
- Dimensions
- 21 × 29.6 cm
- Acquisition credit
- Wynn Ellis Bequest, 1876
- Inventory number
- NG977
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
Provenance
Wynn Ellis Bequest, 1876.
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Neil MacLaren, revised and expanded by Christopher Brown, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School: 1600–1900’, London 1991; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
-
1907C. Hofstede de Groot, Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, 10 vols, London 1907
-
1960Maclaren, Neil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 2 vols, London 1960
-
1991Maclaren, Neil, revised by Christopher Brown, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 1600-1900, 2nd edn (revised and expanded), 2 vols, London 1991
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.
Images
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