Created with fine black lines of paint and ink against a white background on this horizontal wood panel, this seascape showing several large ships and dozens of rowboats looks like a black and white print at first glance. The horizon line where the choppy water meets the nearly cloudless sky comes about a quarter of the way up the composition. The ship closest to us is angled into the distance to the right of center, and its masts reach three-quarters of the way up the panel. Another large ship has nearly pulled alongside it to our right, and a third ship appears near the left edge. Canons…
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Dutch Ships near the Coast

painter Willem van de Velde the Elder (Dutch, 1611 - 1693)

early 1650s

Medium
oil and ink on panel
Classification
Painting
Dimensions
overall: 59.4 x 83.5 cm (23 3/8 x 32 7/8 in.) ; framed: 68.6 x 93.4 x 3.2 cm (27 x 36 3/4 x 1 1/4 in.)
Culture
Dutch
Museum
National Gallery of Art, CNE-B
Credit line
Gift of Lloyd M. Rives
Rights
Public domain (NGA Open Access, 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 National Gallery of Art