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Description: | Signed: yes Description: Ludolf Backhuysen was born in Emden, East Friesland in 1630 and moved to Amsterdam around 1650 where he first worked as a merchant's clerk and a calligrapher, soon turning to the making of pen drawings of ships. He learnt painting from Allart van Everdingen and also Hendrick Dubbels. having studied the storm scenes of Willem van de Velde the Elder, he became the leading painter in Holland of seascapes after the departure of the van de Veldes for London in 1672, painting virtually only this subject matter. Backhuysen infuses tremendous energy into the composition, principally by means of the restless action of the waves but also by the dramatic clouds that seem to be spiralling both upwards and forwards towards the viewer. The light further adds to the theatrical power of the work, used in an attempt to convey the awesome force and scale of nature. A smalschip is seen in the left foreground and a ship, probably an East Indiaman, is seen emerging from behind it; both are flying the Dutch flag. Whereas many of his works depict sail boats close to shore or land seen only in the distance, this example is more unusual in that it has no land visible at all. | Subjects: | figure; marine | Source: | Vads | Creator: | Artist: Backhuysen, Ludolf, I (Dutch painter, calligrapher, and printmaker, 1630-1708) Æ | Identifier: | http://www.vads.ac.uk/large.php?uid=8866... | Go to resource |
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