(Leiden 1633–1707 Greenwich)
An English man-o-war in choppy waters,
signed with monogram lower right (on spar): WV. VF,
oil on canvas, 65.2 x 103.5 cm, framed

Provenance:
with Alfred Brod Gallery, London, 1963 (as Willem van de Velde II);
Collection J. E. Bulmer Esq., Hereford;
sale, Sotheby’s, London, 15 December 1976, lot 50 (as Willem van de Velde II);
sale, Christie’s, London, 10 April 1987, lot 46 (as Willem van de Velde II);
Private collection, United Kingdom;
sale, Bonham’s, Knightsbridge, 2 November 2016, lot 134 (as Follower of Willem van de Velde II);
where acquired by the present owner

Literature:
M. S. Robinson, A Catalogue of the Paintings of the Elder and the Younger Willem van de Velde, National Maritime Museum, Greenwich 1990, vol. II, no. 86 (1), pp. 970/71 (as possibly a period copy)

The present painting shows not only the stylistic debt owed by Willem van der Velde to his father, whose studio he later joined, but also to his own tutor Simon de Vlieger, notable for his subtle silvery-grey portrayals of ships beneath cloudy skies. The painting is included in the catalogue raisonee of M. S. Robinson, who remarked on the typical thinly painted execution over the ‘extremely accurate’ drawing of the main ship. Another version is in the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Dresden. Robinson mentioned the possibility that the present painting may be a fine and period copy.

We are grateful to Gerlinde de Beer for confirming the attribution to Willem van de Velde II on the basis of a photograph. However, she does believe the workshop may possibly have been involved.