Willem van de Velde the Elder

Velde, Willem van de, I

Dutch, 1611 - 1693

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Created with fine black lines of paint and ink against a white background on this horizontal wood panel, this seascape showing several large ships and dozens of rowboats looks like a black and white print at first glance. The horizon line where the choppy water meets the nearly cloudless sky comes about a quarter of the way up the composition. The ship closest to us is angled into the distance to the right of center, and its masts reach three-quarters of the way up the panel. Another large ship has nearly pulled alongside it to our right, and a third ship appears near the left edge. Canons poke out of open flaps along the sides of the ships, and most of the sails are furled. More than a dozen smaller masted ships and rowboats are spaced around and behind these larger vessels, extending into the deep distance. Flags and pennants with three horizontal stripes hang from many of the ships. Closest to us, dark dolphin fins cut through rippling waves, and a few rounded jugs float in the water. People stand along a shoreline in the distance to our right, where two horse-drawn carriages wade between the beach and rowboats. The artist’s name is written on a wooden panel floating in the water near the lower right corner, “W.V. Velde.”
Willem van de Velde the Elder, Dutch Ships near the Coast, early 1650s, oil and ink on panel, Gift of Lloyd M. Rives, 1994.61.1

Dutch Ships near the Coast

Willem van de Velde the Elder · early 1650s · oil and ink on panel ·  Accession ID  1994.61.1

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View of the Zuiderzee

Cornelis Ploos van Amstel, Cornelis Brouwer, Christian Josi · published 1821 · chalk manner and aquatint with roulette printed in black ink ·  Accession ID  1974.6.2.32

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A Dutch Fleet

Cornelis Ploos van Amstel, Cornelis Brouwer, Christian Josi · published 1821 · aquatint with etching printed in black ink ·  Accession ID  1974.6.2.33

Elisha Kirkall, Shipping Scene from the Collection of Alexander Nisbit, 1720s, mezzotint and etching printed in green and black on laid paper, Paul Mellon Fund, 2001.118.17.3

Shipping Scene from the Collection of Alexander Nisbit

Elisha Kirkall · 1720s · mezzotint and etching printed in green and black on laid paper ·  Accession ID  2001.118.17.3

Elisha Kirkall, Shipping Scene from the Collection of Philip Hollingworth, 1720s, mezzotint and etching printed in green and black on laid paper, Paul Mellon Fund, 2001.118.17.4

Shipping Scene from the Collection of Philip Hollingworth

Elisha Kirkall · 1720s · mezzotint and etching printed in green and black on laid paper ·  Accession ID  2001.118.17.4

Elisha Kirkall, Shipping Scene from the Collection of Philip Hollingworth, 1720s, mezzotint and etching printed in green and black on laid paper, Paul Mellon Fund, 2001.118.17.5

Shipping Scene from the Collection of Philip Hollingworth

Elisha Kirkall · 1720s · mezzotint and etching printed in green and black on laid paper ·  Accession ID  2001.118.17.5

Elisha Kirkall, Shipping Scene from the Collection of Jacob Gibbs, 1720s, mezzotint and etching printed in green and black on laid paper, Paul Mellon Fund, 2001.118.17.10

Shipping Scene from the Collection of Jacob Gibbs

Elisha Kirkall · 1720s · mezzotint and etching printed in green and black on laid paper ·  Accession ID  2001.118.17.10

Elisha Kirkall, Shipping Scene from the Collection of Hugo Howard, 1720s, mezzotint and etching printed in green and black on laid paper, Paul Mellon Fund, 2001.118.17.15

Shipping Scene from the Collection of Hugo Howard

Elisha Kirkall · 1720s · mezzotint and etching printed in green and black on laid paper ·  Accession ID  2001.118.17.15

Elisha Kirkall, Fight against Seven Algerines, 1720s, mezzotint and etching printed in green and black on laid paper, Paul Mellon Fund, 2001.118.17.6

Fight against Seven Algerines

Elisha Kirkall · 1720s · mezzotint and etching printed in green and black on laid paper ·  Accession ID  2001.118.17.6

Elisha Kirkall, Shipping Scene from the Collection of Richard Lloyd, 1720s, mezzotint and etching printed in green and black on laid paper, Paul Mellon Fund, 2001.118.17.14

Shipping Scene from the Collection of Richard Lloyd

Elisha Kirkall · 1720s · mezzotint and etching printed in green and black on laid paper ·  Accession ID  2001.118.17.14

Bibliography

1753

  • Houbraken, Arnold. De Groote Schouburgh der Nederlantsche Konstschilders en Schilderessen. 3 vols. in 1. The Hague, 1753 (Reprint: Amsterdam, 1976): 1:354.

1898

  • Haverkorn van Rijsewijk, Pieter. "Willem van de Velde de Oude: Zijn Leven en Zijn Werk." Oud Holland 16 (1898): 65-78.

1899

  • Haverkorn van Rijsewijk, Pieter. "De Eerste Oorlog met Engeland en Willem van de Velde." Oud Holland 17 (1899): 33-46.

1900

  • Haverkorn van Rijsewijk, Pieter. "Willem van de Velde de Oude te Zee en te Land." Oud Holland 18 (1900): 21-44.

1902

  • Haverkorn van Rijsewijk, Pieter. "Willem van de Velde de Oude." Oud Holland 20 (1902): 170-192; 225-243.

1982

  • National Maritime Museum. The Art of the Van de Veldes: Paintings and drawings by the great Dutch marine artists and their English followers. Essays by David Cordingly and Westby Percival-Prescott. Exh. cat. National Maritime Museum, London, 1982: 11-20, 23-32, 143.

1990

  • Keyes, George S. MIrror of Empire: Dutch Marine Art of the Seventeenth Century. Exh. cat. Minneapolis Institute of Arts; Toledo (Ohio) Museum of Art; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1990-1991. Cambridge, England, 1990: 419-420.

  • Robinson, Michael Strang. Van de Velde: A Catalogue of the Paintings of the Elder and the Younger Willem van de Velde. 2 vols. Greenwich, 1990: 1-29.

1996

  • Giltaij, Jeroen, and Jan Kelch. Praise of ships and the sea: The Dutch Marine Painters of the 17th Century. Exh. cat. Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam; Staatliche Museum zu Berlin, Gemäldegalerie im Bodemuseum. Rotterdam, 1996: 411-412.