# Fishing Boats off an Estuary

- By: Jan van Goyen (Dutch, 1596–1656)
- Date: 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
- Credit line: Mr. and Mrs. Martin A. Ryerson Collection
- Museum: [Art Institute of Chicago](https://www.artic.edu/artworks/16370)
- Rights: [Public domain (CC0)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/)
- Picture: https://www.artic.edu/iiif/2/fc76abe6-5252-a690-dd1c-6e2480c0ffbb/full/!1920,1080/0/default.jpg
- Who can see it: Little Ones profiles and older (museums give no ratings; placed by Invisible Network from the museum's own words)

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