Ships Near The Coast - Abraham Hendricksz Van Beyeren (1620/21 – 1690)

Oil on cradled panel, Dutch school of the 17th century, attributed to Abraham van Beyeren.
At the same time close to the art of Allaert van Everdingen and Ludolf Backhuyzen, our composition brings together all the elements which make the success of Dutch marine paintings of the Golden Age: omnipresent sky, rough sea, coasts visible to the horizon. But the strong impasto which constitutes the lines of light on the timbers and the masts as well as the foam on the crests of the waves are representative of van Beyeren's style. This technique tends to increase contrasts and offers great realism to the scene. Thus, we observe numerous ships maneuvering on a stormy sea between a frail pier and a distant coast. Related works: The Silver Navy, c. 1640.50, oil on panel, 34.5 x 57 cm, Louvre Museum. Sailing by Rough Seas, 1660, oil on canvas, Philadelphia Museum of Art. View of an Estuary, C. 1643-1650, oil on panel, 71.6 x 95.8 cm, Rijksmeuseum Amsterdam.

Our navy is superbly highlighted by a powerful reverse profile frame in blackened wood.
Dimensions: 31 x 41.5 cm – 54 x 63.5 cm with frame
Sold with invoice and certificate

Biography: Abraham Hendricksz van Beyeren or Beijeren (The Hague 1620/21 - Overschie, 1690). We do not know from which painter he received his initial training, but we know that his brother-in-law Pieter de Putter taught him his art and had a great influence on him, particularly for his still lifes of fish. Beyeren painted in many Dutch cities: in Leiden in 1638, then mentioned in The Hague from 1639 to 1657, he then worked in Delft (1657-1661), returned to The Hague, settled in Alkmaar (1674-1678) , in Amsterdam, in Gouda and finally in Overschie. He began his career as a marine painter then specialized in fish paintings and broadened his subjects by painting banquet tables. Today he is considered one of the most important painters of still lifes of fish and “pronkstillevens”, that is to say sumptuous still lifes of luxurious objects.

Bibliography:
- MULLENMEISTER, Kurt J., Meer und Land im Licht des 17. Jahrunderts, Bremen Verlag Schünemann, 1973.
- GOEDDE, Lawrence Otto, Tempest and Shipwreck in Dutch and Flemish Art: Convention, Rhetoric, and Interpretation, Park, Pennsylvania State University Press, 1989.
- RUPERT, Preston, The Seventeenth Century Marine Painters of the Netherlands, F. Lewis Publishers, Leigh-on-Sea, 1974.
- SCHEELE, Friedrich and Kanzenbach Annette, Ludolf Backhuysen: Emdem 1630 – Amsterdam 1708. Deutscher Kunstverlag 2008.
- SLIVE, Seymmour, Dutch painting 1600-1800, Yale University Press, 1998.