Willem van de Velde, 'A Dutch Ship and Other Small Vessels in a Strong Breeze', 1658
About the work
Overview
A warship keels over in the face of an advancing storm, a Dutch flag flying boldly at its mainmast, the arms of the Province of Holland on its stern. The gun ports are open, the cannon out at the ready – probably for practice. A small fishing boat is tossed about on the crest of the wash left behind the warship.
Close to us, the crew of a kaag (a flat-bottomed craft used for inshore journeys) take in the sail to slow it down. The flag at the peak of its sail has faded a little, but it is just possible to make out what appears to be Willem van de Velde the Younger’s signature across the centre.
Willem the Younger painted this exhilarating little picture quite early in his career. It shows the influence of Simon de Vlieger, with whom he may have studied and whose work can also be seen in the National Gallery.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- A Dutch Ship and Other Small Vessels in a Strong Breeze
- Artist
- Willem van de Velde
- Artist dates
- 1633 - 1707
- Date made
- 1658
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 55 × 70 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed; Dated
- Acquisition credit
- Salting Bequest, 1910
- Inventory number
- NG2573
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
- Previous owners
Provenance
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.
Exhibition history
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2023Masterpieces from the National GalleryShanghai Art Museum East17 January 2023 - 7 May 2023National Museum of Korea2 June 2023 - 9 October 2023Hong Kong Palace Museum22 November 2023 - 11 April 2024Chimei Museum2 May 2024 - 1 September 2024
Bibliography
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1830
J. Smith, A Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch, Flemish, and French Painters: In Which is Included a Short Biographical Notice of the Artists, with a Copious Description of Their Principal Pictures […], vol. 2, London 1830
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1838G.F. Waagen, Works of Art and Artists in England, trans. H. Lloyd, vol. 2, London 1838
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1854G.F. Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great Britain: Being and Account of the Chief Collections of Paintings, Drawings, Sculptures, Illuminated Mss. […], vol. 2, trans. E. Eastlake, London 1854
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1907C. Hofstede de Groot, Catalogue Raisonné of the Works of the Most Eminent Dutch Painters of the Seventeenth Century, 10 vols, London 1907
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1960Maclaren, Neil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 2 vols, London 1960
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1966W. Stechow, Dutch Landscape Painting of the Seventeenth Century, London 1966
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1973R.J.B. Walker, A List of Pictures and Sculpture in 10 Downing Street, London 1973
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1989National Gallery, 'Pictures Cleaned and Restored in the Conservation Department of the National Gallery, January 1989 – October 1992', National Gallery Technical Bulletin, XIV, 1993, pp. 95-6
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1990G.S. Keyes, Mirror of Empire: Dutch Marine Art of the Seventeenth Century (exh. cat. Minneapolis Insitute of Arts, 23 September - 31 December 1990), Minneapolis 1990
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1991Maclaren, Neil, revised by Christopher Brown, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 1600-1900, 2nd edn (revised and expanded), 2 vols, London 1991
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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.