Beschreibung:

Willem van de Velde II (Leiden 1633 - London 1707) View of the English fleet Black crayon and grey wash, 12.3 x 16 cm Provenance: Collection W. van Dijk (1910-1994), Haarlem N.B. I: Van de Velde (the Younger) was a Dutch painter who as his father, Willem van de Velde (the Elder) was specialised in the painting of maritime scenes. After receiving his education from his father, he became a pupil of the renowned marine painter Simon de Vlieger at the age of fifteen. Willem soon achieved fame and was seen as the antithesis of his father, who's work is characterised by realism. Willem van de Velde started off painting mainly calm seascapes with groups of fishing boats near the coast. In 1672, at the beginning of the Third Dutch-English War, he moved to London in the company of his father. He then opted for other subjects and concentrated on ship portraits of the Royal English yachts and of battleships. Two years later, in 1674, he was appointed by Charles II of England to work for him for a salary of 100 pounds. He painted sea-battles, often on the basis of his father's drawings. The duke of York, the later James II of England, was one of his patrons. The best of Van de Velde works are his delicate and detailed depictions of the Dutch coast with Dutch vessels where the rigging of the ships and the many figures are depicted in great detail. The artist knew how to depict both calm and stormy seas very well. N.B. II: We are grateful to drs. Charles Dumas for his assistance in cataloguing this lot.