The Dutch Whaling Fleet

Abraham Storck was an Amsterdam marine painter who documented Dutch maritime power at its height in the late seventeenth century. This painting of the Dutch whaling fleet around 1695 records one of the republic's most profitable and dangerous industries — Arctic whaling, which employed thousands of Dutch sailors and produced oil that lit Europe's cities. Dutch whalers dominated the industry from Spitsbergen to the Davis Strait.

The oil on canvas captures the cold Arctic waters and whaling vessels with precise nautical detail and a cool, silvery palette. Storck's careful rendering of ship rigging and whale-hunting activity demonstrates his specialist marine painting expertise.