Fishing Boats in a Calm
Jan van de Cappelle·1651
Historical Context
Jan van de Cappelle's Fishing Boats in a Calm from 1651 is a masterful example of the marine painting that was among the most prized genres in the Dutch Republic. Van de Cappelle, a wealthy Amsterdam dye manufacturer who painted as a largely self-taught artist, specialized in calm water scenes of extraordinary atmospheric subtlety. He owned over 200 drawings by Simon de Vlieger, from whom he absorbed his refined understanding of light on water.
Technical Analysis
The painting demonstrates van de Cappelle's unrivaled ability to render still water reflecting luminous skies. The oil-on-canvas work builds atmosphere through delicate gradations of gray, silver, and pale gold, with reflections perfectly calibrated to suggest glassy calm.
Provenance
Probably François Sallé, by 1817; his sale, Paillet, Paris, November 27, 1817, lot 5 for 101 francs to Benoist Montigneul [Burton Fredericksen kindly suggested the connection to this lot, based on the date of 1651; annotated copy of the sale catalogue in the British Library, copy in curatorial file]. J. Louis Miéville, London, 1878 [according to Hofstede de Groot 1923]. Presumably Prince Paul Demidoff (died 1885) and later to his widow, Helena Troubetskoi, Pratolino, near Florence; his sale, Pillet, San Donato, March 15–April 10, 1880, lot 1071, bought in; included in the group of paintings from the Demidoff collection sold to the Art Institute using funds advanced by four trustees including Martin A. Ryerson (died 1932), Chicago; the picture was in Ryerson’s private collection and intermittently on loan to the Art Institute by 1894; bequeathed to the Art Institute, 1933.
