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Notes
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Pieter van der Croos’ painting shows the North Sea’s agitated waves washing against a jetty on an overcast windy day. Various ships sail by, coping with the bobbing and rolling waters depending on their respective size. A three-master, probably a merchant ship, is anchored off the jetty. The picture’s silvery grey tonality reflects the weather’s overall effect on the moist seaside atmosphere as well as creating the lively scene’s sense of freshness. The artist, who signed the picture on one of the jetty’s beams on the left, was born in Alkmaar, but moved to The Hague by the 1640s. He was influenced by Jan van Goyen’s, and possibly Salomon van Ruysdael’s, art and as a minor artist kept up the tradition of tonal realism in his seascapes into the second half of the seventeenth century.
The vessels are portrayed in the same contrast of light and shade, which includes them in the context of clouds, wind and water. Only the flags of the ships shine out brightly. The three-master is flying a red flag in addition to the Dutch one. The smalschip on the right is curiously flying a large flag with an additional red stripe underneath the doubled national tricolour, the Double Prince, and is heading towards the bigger ship. Bustle and activity can be seen on the jetty with its crooked light post and also on deck the vessels. Natural detail is added by the group of seagulls swishing across, low above the waves in the foreground.
Title
Dutch Ships in a Rough Sea
Date
c.1640
Medium
oil on panel
Measurements
H 43 x W 65 cm
Accession number
BHC0800
Work type
Painting