17th century Dutch seascape, Stormy sea with a Dutch Hoy

17th century Dutch old master oil seascape, Stormy sea with boats including a Dutch Hoy and a Packet-Boat

The present painting is a beautiful example of the Dutch golden age seascapes, it skilfully captures both the majestic clouds, whose billowing forms add a captivating intensity to the scenery, as well as the ships which played such a pivotal importance to the rise of the wealth and importance of the Dutch Republic. The longer one looks, the more one discovers; fishermen can be seen throwing out their nets in the foreground, whilst further in the background one can see a school of dolphins swimming in the sea just to the right of a Dutch Hoy.

Julius Porcellis was a distinguished Dutch Golden Age painter celebrated for his marine landscapes born in 1610 in Rotterdam. His father was the marine painter Jan Porcellis, both father and son shared the passion and talent for creating marine landscapes. They had a close bond and in his will, Jan included that Julius, would receive "all the paintings and works in the artist's possession at his death, to wit, those by the artist's hand and signed with his name, and no others". Throughout his oeuvre, Porcellis demonstrated a remarkable ability to convey mood and atmosphere through the subtle interplay of tonal colors. His later works exhibited a departure from the strict realism of his early period, employing softer tonal transitions to evoke the dynamic energy and vastness of the sea. This evolution allowed him to explore the nuances of light and shadow on water and clouds, imbuing his compositions with a sense of depth and drama. This new focus on the atmosphere of the sea, with the majority of the canvas displaying sea and sky, set the grounds for later works in this genre.

Provenance:
Auctioned as attributed to Ludolf Bakhuyzen (1630/31-1708) and as such registered in the Bakhuyzen-archive of Hofstede de Groot
Private collection Belgium

Measurements:
Oil on panel measuring ca. 53,5 by 78,5 cms
With the frame ca. 73,5 by 98,5 cms

Monogrammed J S on the foremost vessel.

Ready to hang, lovely condition with some inpainting and small restorations (mostly along the panel joints).