Willem van de Velde the Elder

Willem van de Velde the Elder (c. 1611 in Leiden, the United Provinces of the Netherlands, † December 13, 1689 in Greenwich) was a Dutch painter.

Work

The artist was a member of the dynasty of painters van de Velde, which spawned numerous artists. His brother Esaias (c. 1590/1591 ), his cousin John II (* 1593), his nephew Anthonie (* 1617, son of Esaias ) and John III. ( Baptized 1638) (* around 1620, son of Jan II ) as well as his own sons Willem the Younger ( * 1633) and Adriaan were all painters.

In his youth, Willem van de Velde the Elder went to sea, then he turned to painting, where he specialized in ship designs and battle scenes. For a time he was the official painter of the Dutch fleet.

He married in 1631 in Leiden Judith van Leeuven, who bore him the following children: Willem van de Velde the Younger, born 1633 in Leiden and the second oldest, baptized in the Old Church in Amsterdam in 1638 Adriaan van de Velde. Both her ​​father painting turned to him.

In 1672, at a time in the Netherlands and England were at war, Willem joined the of the English King Charles II services. His older son accompanied him to England.

Works

A series of " battles " (1665, 1668, 1669), including the four paintings from the years 1657-1659, which illustrate the victory of Admiral Tromp and derived from the possession of his family, can be seen in the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam.

• The Battle of Terheide
• Episode from the Second Anglo -Dutch War: The Battle of Bergen aan Zee on August 12, 1665
• Dutch yachts at the harbor