Large seascape by BLANCKERHOFF Jan Theunisz (1628 – 1669)

Large seascape in the purest tradition of the 17th century Dutsch master, Blanckerhoff. Oil on canvas of a sailing boats in a agitated sea near the coast. By highlighting the struggle of tiny sailors against the elements, Blanckerhoff illustrates the uncertainty and fragility of any human destiny subject to divine will, giving a spiritual sense of his work. Professionally cleaned. Framed. Unsigned. Certified by the RKD institution in the Netherlands.

Size: H 82 cm x W 108 cm – H 95 cm x W 123 cm

Dutsch school of the 17th century.

Lit: Jan Theunisz Blanckerhoff (1628, Alkmaar –1669, Amsterdam) was a Dutch Golden Age marine painter. The life of Jan Blanckerhoff (also called Jan Maat) is difficult to trace with archival documents. He was taught by the Alkmaar painter Arent Teerling, and later by Pieter Scheyenburg and still later again by Cesar van Everdingen, who encouraged him to travel. During the Second Anglo-Dutch War, he sailed twice with the States General Fleet and earned a reputation as an „ex- pert painter of maritime affairs.“ The Dutch art writer Arnold Houbraken (1660-1719) reports that the painter was „dissolute and unbound in his life, bustling and inclined to variety“. The fact that Blanckerhoff‘s oeuvre is still underestimated today is shown by the attribution of many paintings to better-known painters such as Ludolf Bakhuizen (1630/31-1708). He became a member of the Bentvueghels in Rome and was given the bent name Jan Maat. He started on landscapes but switched to seascapes. According to Houbraken, his most popular pieces were of Italian ports with strange boats moored here. He had a student, Arnout Smit [fr], in Amsterdam, who followed his style
Works in prestigious museums: Staatliche kunsthalle in Karlsruhe; National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London; Royal Fine Arts Museum in Brussels; Statens Museum for Arts in Copenhagen.

Lit: The Netherlands was a world power in the 17th century and so this period is known as the Golden Age. Trade flourished, the military fleet grew, and the arts and sciences were examples to the world. This period is also considered the height of Dutch marine school of painting. It also owes its flourishing to the religious freedom that prevailed there, which displaced the Christian-dominated imagery and made room for everyday scenes. Due to the enormous wealth of the Dutch, less wealthy citizens now also became potential buyers of works of art. Since they prefer the depiction of their everyday life to mythological themes that are difficult to decode, the painters adapt their offer.