(1562 – Haarlem-1640)
A Calm
Oil on canvas, 98 x 183 cm
Signed: c. on 2nd flag: VROOM
Dated: r. c. on the 3rd flag: 1629
Provenance: France, Noble Collection
One of a pair of two.
Both signed and dated: VROOM 1629
This painting was on loan to the VOC exhibition in the National Archive, The Hague, (24.02.2017 till 24.06.2018). The painting is was also on loan to the Royal library of Belgium, Brussels for the exposition ‘Breughel in black and white’. (14.10.2019 till 16.02.2020)
Vroom, A very rare pair of Seascapes, Calm and Tempest 2
There is no other pendant (calm and tempest) presently known on this grand format of H.C. Vroom, the ‘father’ of the Dutch Marine painters, the first ship portraitist and the most important marine painter of the first quarter of the seventeenth century.
The calm represents the Dutch fleet engaged in battle with either the Spanish or the Barbary pirates under a tall blue sky. Vroom creates a stylistic balance with realistic detail which can be observed, for example, in the careful handling of the reflections in the water and the detailed painting of the vessels, that marks out his mature works and which has, at least in part, been responsible for his reputation as the first Dutch seascape artist. He is equally credited with the innovation of the long horizontal view which is also demonstrated in this particular calm.
One of the features that make Vroom such a good painter is his masterful eye for detail in the rendering of the ships. It demonstrates his thorough knowledge of the shipbuilding of his time and howing careful attention to naval detail and rigging.
The tempest is a large genre piece with two sea monsters on the foreground. The colour of the dark waves seems to be the product of light on a windy day at sea. The dangers of the passage are represented by the monster. As such the subject matter appears to repeat the moralist belief, perpetuated in contemporary emblem literature, of the occasional necessity to sacrifice all one’s riches in order to save one’s life. The inclusion of the monsters, points to the implicit allegory of the ship as a vessel bearing mankind and the human soul across the perilous seas of life. The rendering of the waves appears to be based on the experience travelled aboard ship.
The artist has shown members of the crew in the masts to indicate that they are in control and will steer the ship to safety but must exercise vigilance, care and watchfulness. There is an emphasis on human perseverance in the face of great peril. On the right side and background, the two ships in the distance on the left are pitching and tossing in the waves at the mercy of the elements.
Pendants were often intended for a particular domestic setting and its highly likely that these two paintings were commissioned for the same client.
BIOGRAPHY
The artist, Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom, was born in Haarlem in 1566, according to van Mander, and was the son of the sculptor and ceramist Cornelis Hendricksen. Initially he earned his living as a painter of Delftware. As he came from an artistic family he undoubtedly received theoretical, as well as practical knowledge. Following this, he travelled extensively in Spain, Italy, France and Poland. In Italy Vroom became acquainted with the painter Paulus Bril, who encouraged him to start painting and gave him lessons. Between 1585 and 1587 he was in the service of Cardinal Ferdinand de’ Medici. His journey back to the Dutch Republic took him through Venice, Milan, Turin, Lyon, Paris and Rouen.
Hendrick Cornelis Vroom had an adverturous life and according to his own anecdotes, was shipwrecked at the Portuguese Los Barongos, when he was travelling with a number of religious paintings to Seville. The paintings washed up a he managed to convince the monks at the local convent that he was not English, as the 80 Years War was well on its way. Vroom put his adventure of the shipwreck on paint and sold them on the spot. Another anecdote of his life, according to his own stories, is that he fell in a ravine on the col of St. Denis but was stuck in a bush while his pants froze on a rock. You can read of his many adventures in the Artist Biography of Carel van Mander from 1604.
On his final return to Haarlem, he developed his career as a marine painter. Van Mander describes and explains the origins of the new genre of painting as follos.’ Returned home he [Vroom] continued, on the advice of other painters there, making pieces of ships, and he gradually go better and better making them. And since there is much sea-faring in Holland, the public also started to take pleasure in these little ships.’
Hendrick Cornelisz pioneered marine painting as a specialist form as the Dutch rose to become a leading maritime power. He painted historical battles, ships’ portraits and vieuws of maritime towns like Hoorn, Amsterdam and Vlissingen.Furthermore he had extensive knowledge of the buiding and equipment of ships of the early seventeenth century trade- and warships. Vroom worked widely in Europe and his importance was internationally recognized.
According to Vroom’s biographer, Karel van Mander, Vroom’s fame rested not only on prestigious commissions for images of important battles and political events at sea, but, also, hailed Vroom for his attention to detail as well as his depiction of nature and scenery: ‘Vroom is an excellent master in this respect, in that he has not only much understanding of ships, good rigging, ropes and tackle, pennants, sails and other things of that kind, but he is also excellent in all other incidentals such as pieces of ground, landscape, rocks, trees, skies, water, waves, castles, villages, towns, figures, fishes and other things which accompany and enrich his ships.’
Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom is regarded as the father of marine painting and he pioneered the painting of naval scenes and battles in a new style, showing careful attention to naval detail and rigging. His highly detailed depictions soon brought him fame, enabling him to ask very high prices for them. Van Mander also says he was highly productive, with the result he earned a fortune from his work. Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom was also convinced of his own talent and fame. Just for comparison, in 1621, he asked for a commission of 6000 guilders while Rembrandt received 1600 guilders for his Nightwatch in 1642.
Hendrick Cornelisz Vroom also started making tapestery designs and he got a commission to design six unique tapestries titled ‘Strijd op de Zeeuwse Stroomen’ for the States of Zealand, to commemorate some of the resounding victories on the Spanish Fleet in the years 1572 – 1576. They are preserved in the Abbey of Middelburg.
In the 1590s, he was commissioned to design a series of ten tapestries for the English Lord Admiral, Lord Howard of Effingham (Earl of Nottingham from 1596), to commemorate his victory over the Spanish Armada. From 1650 these hung in the House of Lords in Westminster and were destroyed in the fire of 1834. Although they are recorded in engravings, made by John Pine, in 1739.
Vroom pioneered marine painting as a specialist form as the Dutch rose to become a leading maritime power. He worked widely in Europe and his importance was internationally recognized. He is regarded as the father of marine painting and he pioneered the painting of naval scenes and battles in a new style, showing careful attention to naval detail and rigging. Vroom died in Haarlem in 1640. He is generally hailed to be the first ‘Dutch’ marine artist. He outlived his pupil, Jan Porcellis, by eight years.
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