Lot 1054. Simon de Vlieger (1600/01 Rotterdam - 1653 Weesp), Anchoring ships in front of a dike. Oil on wood (parqueted). 69 x 107 cm. Estimate: € 50,000 - € 60,000 © Lempertz

Certificate: Prof. Dr. Jan Kelch, Berlin, 12.3.2013.

Note: Coastal landscapes and marine representations belong to the genres of landscape, which flourished in the 17th century in the maritime power Holland. Simon de Vlieger is one of the most prominent representatives of this genre. He lived successively in Rotterdam, Delft, Amsterdam and finally in Weesp, where at the same time other major marine painters worked, so that the Dutch naval image there learned in mutual stimulus its classic form.

Our painting shows in a tense composition on the left side of several sailors, including two anchored warships, as well as on the right side a less maritime, but rather rural influenced backdrop. In between, there is a clear view of the inland waters of panorama-like expanse. This bilateral structure is as characteristic of de Vlieger's works as is the carefully graded perspective and "the concise detailing in every detail, which remains embedded in an atmospherically nuanced palette" (Jan Kelch).