DUTCH SCHOOL, circa 1650

Dutch School, circa 1650

Study of a Fishing Pink

Pen and brown ink, grey wash, partial framing lines in graphite, 139 x 157 mm (5.5 x 6.2 inch)

Inscribed ‘De Vlieger’ (pencil, verso)

Provenance
Private collection, The Netherlands

***

A charming study of a fishing pink, executed in pen and brown ink and grey wash. Such outdoor studies of actual ships were made by various artists during the middle of the seventeenth century in preparation for oil paintings, which were made in the studio. Similar studies are known by Willem van de Velde I (c.1610–1693) and Willem van de Velde II (1633–1707), Hendrick Dubbels (1621–1707) and Simon de Vlieger (c.1601–1653), among others. When they are not signed and not linked to known paintings, it is a challenge to attribute such studies to specific artists.

The present spontaneous sketch can for instance be compared to Simon de Vlieger’s drawing Fishing Pinks on the Shore in the collection of the British Museum in London (fig.)¹

^{1. Pen and brown ink, grey wash, 248 x 493 mm, inv. no. 1863,0110.231.}