SIMON JACOBSZ. DE VLIEGER | A shipwreck

De Vlieger’s versatility as a marine painter led him to become one of the leading artists in the field; he was instrumental in forging the direction of the genre in Holland in the 1630s and 1640s. De Vlieger was skilled in the depiction of calm seascapes, wild stormy oceans and dramatic shipwrecks – he recreated his subjects with remarkable variety and invention. His imaginary coastal scenes, such as that depicted in the panel, use such rocky terrain as an awesome setting for shipwrecks in stormy weather.

De Vlieger's influence on artists of the following generation is significant and the impact of his painting can be seen in the work of Willem van de Velde the Younger, Jan van de Cappelle and Hendrik Dubbels, among many others.(1)

1 G.S. Keyes, 'Simon de Vlieger', in The Dictionary of Art, (J. Turner ed.), London and New York 1996, vol. 32, p. 673.