Fishing Boats off an Estuary

Jan van Goyen (Dutch, 1596–1656)

1633

Medium
Oil on panel
Classification
Painting
Dimensions
36 × 57.8 cm (14 1/8 × 22 3/4 in.); Framed: 57.2 × 78.1 × 5.1 cm (22 1/2 × 30 3/4 × 2 in.)
Culture
Netherlands
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago, Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Credit line
Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection
Rights
Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed

View at the Art Institute of Chicago

About this work

With its low horizon line, monochrome palette, and efficient paint handling, this panel is characteristic of early river landscapes by Jan van Goyen. In a society that provided a broad market for art, Van Goyen executed both small- and large-scale paintings of waterways, with varying levels of detail, to appeal to buyers at the lower and higher ends of the market. Such views of Dutch canals, moody skies, and seafaring activities appealed to collectors in the young republic, which prided itself on its maritime prowess.

Description © Art Institute of Chicago, CC BY 4.0