Willem van de Velde & Son, Son, a Retrospective
W
illem van de Velde de Oude (the Elder) and his son Willem van de Velde de Jonge (the Younger) are making a limited engagement as the subjects of a new retrospective exhibition, on now at the National Maritime Museum (Het Scheepvaartmuseum) in Amsterdam, through 27 March 2022. The Willem van
images courtesy of the national maritime museum, amsterdam
by Marleen Smit, National Maritime Museum, Amsterdam
de Velde & Son exhibition sheds light on the Van de Veldes’ family art business, their eye for detail and atmosphere, superb craftsmanship, and the assignment of the elder Van de Velde as a war correspondent. The son of a Dutch ship captain, Willem van de Velde the Elder was born in Leiden in 1611 and grew up during the
early years of the Dutch realist marine painting movement, founded by Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom (1562–1640). Willem the Elder was the first known to go to sea as an embedded artist, and most of his work from this stage of his career were drawings in which he meticulously recorded details of ships’ hulls from named vessels. He made (top of page) Episode uit de zeeslag in de Sont (Episode from the Naval Battle in the Sound), by Willem van de Velde the Elder, 38 x 55 inches. Van de Velde, working as the official artist of the Dutch fleet, was provided with a small sailing vessel (a galliot), and a boat captain to maneuver around and between ships engaged in the fighting. In this scene, Van de Velde sketched himself in the galliot at the bottom left, dangerously close to the action.
(left) Ships in the Roads, oil on canvas, 26 x 30 inches. This painting by Willem the Younger depicts a group of vessels in a calm, including a yacht, two coasters, an Indiaman, and a small boat at left with two men and fishing baskets. 32
SEA HISTORY 177, WINTER 2021–22