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Gallery Text

The prosperity of the Dutch Republic depended on its fishing, naval, and merchant fleets, and Dutch painters were the peerless masters of the seascape, developing maritime subjects into a richly diversified artistic genre. Willem van de Velde the Younger and his father, and first teacher, Willem the Elder (1611–1693), worked collaboratively for patrons in the two dominant European maritime nations. In 1672, they left the Netherlands and settled in England, where each received an annual royal stipend, the Elder for “making Draughts of seafights,” and the Younger for “putting the said Draughts into colors.” In addition to painting naval battles from his father’s drawings, Willem the Younger depicted coastal views and shipping under various atmospheric conditions. This work shows an English galliot—a long, narrow, shallow-draft merchant vessel used for coastal navigation—with only its foresail raised in the strong wind. It struggles through the choppy sea beneath an ominous cloud formation that portends deteriorating weather.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
2014.128
People
Willem van de Velde II, Dutch (Leiden 1633 - 1707 Greenwich)
Title
An English Galliot at Sea Running before a Strong Wind
Classification
Paintings
Work Type
painting
Date
c. 1690
Culture
Dutch
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/342197

Location

Location
Level 2, Room 2300, European Art, 17th–19th century, Seventeenth–Century Dutch and Flemish Art
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Physical Descriptions

Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
61 x 86.3 cm (24 x 34 in.)
frame: 82.6 × 108 cm (32 1/2 × 42 1/2 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: black paint, lower left corner; signature of the artist: W. v. Velde f.
  • inscription: verso; signed in black paint above number in lead white : W. V. Velde f. / 10

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Capt. the Rt. Hon. Lord Cromwell, M.C., Sprotborough Hall, Doncaster, sold; to [Christie's London, November 19-20, 1925, lot 142] sold; to [Leggatt Brothers, London]. Junius Spencer Morgan, Jr., Locust Valley, New York,, by descent; to his son, John Pierpont Morgan II, New York, by 1983. Mr. and Mrs. Robert G. Scully, gift; to Harvard Art Museums, 2014.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of the Scully Family Foundation
Accession Year
2014
Object Number
2014.128
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
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Publication History

  • Michael Strang Robinson, Van de Velde: a Catalogue of the Paintings of the Elder and the younger van de Velde, National Maritime Museum, London (Greenwich, England and The Haag, the Netherlands, 1990), pp. 1006-1007 as cat. 452
  • Daniel Grant, "Museum Acquisitions: Top Picks of 2014", Antiques and Fine Art Magazine (2015), XIIV, 1, pp. 128-137, p. 135

Exhibition History

  • A Loan Exhibition, Doncaster Municipal Art Gallery and Museum, 01/01/1922 - 12/31/1922
  • 32Q: 2400 French/Italian/Spanish, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 09/14/2017 - 01/10/2018
  • 32Q: 2300 Dutch & Flemish, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 11/16/2014 - 09/08/2017; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/17/2018 - 09/25/2019; Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/01/2019 - 01/01/2050

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu