VLIEGER, Simon de

Simon de Vlieger took his style from Porcellis (who likewise influenced Jan van Goyen). In the 1630s De Vlieger (like Van Goyen) was caught up in the tonal style, so suited to marine painting, and he gradually departed from Porcellis’s tendency to paint seas in stormy wheather. As in “A Dutch Man-of-war and Various Vessels in a Breeze”, his sea is usually much calmer and less threatening to the ships, the vast sky more gentle. Rarely, too, is it the high sea; the shore-line is visible on the distant horizon, and in the lower left corner a stake is ptrotruding as a discreet indication of the shore at this side. It is a wide estuary, then; ships are coming in from sea; another ship, in the distance, is riding at anchor.

The painting depicts an estuary scene, with a man-of-war firing a salute to the right and small vessels off a jetty to the left.

This tranquil scene, with Dutch kaags cruising in a gentle breeze on an estuary in the early morning light, is an unusual departure from Simon de Vlieger’s typical marine paintings. More commonly associated with the representation of open seas, depictions of inland waters by the artist are rare and only a few survive today.

This simple composition with expansive sky and restricted palette, is a typical work of the artist’s maturity.

In this early painting the artist depicts an estuary scene with a rocky coastline on the left and fishermen on the shore, men-‘o-war in the background. The painting shows the stylistic influence of Jan Porcellis the Elder.

This is one of the few forest landscapes of the artist who was specialized in marine paintings. A hunting scene in the foreground makes the composition more lively.

On the right of this painting a ship has been hauled onto dry land; a pot of tar stands on the fire, to be used in caulking.

Simon de Vlieger initially painted in a colourful, illustrative manner, but later, influenced by Jan Porcellis, he began to concentrate more and more on the atmospheric rendering of the sea, lakes, and rivers. This painting represents an intermediate state of his development; here he was interested both in the atmosphere and in the story.

The detail shows the right of this painting. A ship has been hauled onto dry land; a pot of tar stands on the fire, to be used in caulking: stopping up the ship’s seams with oakum and sealing them with tar.

De Vlieger’s versatility as a marine painter led him to become one of the leading artists in the field, forging the direction of the genre in Holland in the 1630s and 1640s. The artist was skilled in the depiction of calm seascapes, wild stormy oceans and dramatic shipwrecks and he recreated his subjects with remarkable variety and invention. His influence on artists of the following generation is significant and the impact of his painting can be seen in the work of Willem van de Velde the Younger, Jan van de Cappelle and Hendrik Dubbels among others.

Simon de Vlieger was one of the leading marine painters in the Netherlands in the 17th century. His early works are known for the muted tonality while his later pictures indicate the transition from this ‘tonal’ phase of Dutch painting towards the more classical style of Jan van de Cappelle and the Van de Veldes.

Suggested listening (streaming mp3, 10 minutes):

Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto in E flat major RV 253 op. 8 No. 5 (Storm at sea)

This enchanting sketch shows a view of the Rotterdam Gate at Delft from the northwest with people and horses on the frozen Kolk.

The East Gate, also known as St Catherine’s Gate was the oldest of all the medieval entranceways to Delft. It remains largely intact today. It attracted several talented draftsmen.

The painting represents the late style of Simon de Vlieger. There are two other versions of the subject by the artist in the Sz�pm�v�szeti M�zeum, Budapest, and in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.

The painting represents the late style of Simon de Vlieger. There are two other versions of the subject by the artist in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, and in the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.