Willem van de Velde & son

Abstract

"Around 1600, trade and shipping flourished in the Northern Netherlands as never before. This activity of ships on the water and in the many ports was a new, inexhaustible source of inspiration for painters who chose the sea as their subject. Among these marine painters were father and son Willem van de Velde. They worked closely together for over fifty years, first from their Amsterdam shop and from 1672 at the court of the English kings Charles II and James II. With their eye for detail and entrepreneurial talent, they became the most prominent marine painters of the seventeenth century. Their studio has existed for over fifty years. Their productivity in that period was unprecedented, they made an estimated 2500 drawings and 800 paintings. Their works of art can now be found in the collections of all major museums in the world. The work of the Van de Veldes symbolizes the heyday of Dutch marine painting. Their departure to England in the winter of 1672 also marked the end of a period in which Dutch marine painters, like the war fleet they depicted throughout their lives, ruled in an artistic sense."--Publisher's description.