Artwork
Ships in Stormy Seas
Ships in Stormy Seas is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Jacob van Ruisdael. It dates from 1655 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The composition highlights the perilous relationship between the ships and the stormy environment, evoking themes of vulnerability and resilience.
Jacob van Ruisdael's Ships in Stormy Seas (1655) depicts a dramatic maritime scene featuring sailing ships and boats navigating turbulent waters. As a landscape painting, the work focuses on the raw power of the sea, capturing vessels in motion amidst stormy conditions. The subject matter emphasizes the struggle between human endeavor and the forces of nature, a recurring theme in Dutch Golden Age seascapes.
The composition highlights the perilous relationship between the ships and the stormy environment, evoking themes of vulnerability and resilience.
Technique & Style
Jacob van Ruisdael painted Ships in Stormy Seas in 1655 using oil paint on canvas. The work measures 35.5 cm in height by 44.5 cm in width and portrays a sailing ship battling a turbulent sea. Characteristic of Dutch Golden Age landscape painting, the composition emphasizes dramatic lighting and dynamic brushwork to convey movement and atmospheric intensity.
The surface bears signs of age, including craquelure and a yellowed varnish layer, though the paint layer remains largely intact without major flaking or pigment loss. The canvas support shows minor warping at the edges, consistent with its provenance from a 17th-century Dutch workshop.
Stylistically, the painting exemplifies Ruisdael’s mastery of marine landscape composition, combining precise anatomical detail in the vessel with expressive, almost impressionistic handling of sky and water. This synthesis of realism and emotive brushwork defines his contribution to 17th-century marine painting.
History & Provenance
Ships in Stormy Seas is an oil-on-canvas landscape painted by Jacob van Ruisdael in 1655, produced in Haarlem. The work originally belonged to the Amsterdam dealer Jacques Goudstikker, whose collection formed the basis of the holdings later associated with his heirs. During the Second World War the painting entered the Hermann Göring Collection through the seizure of Goudstikker assets.
After the war it passed into the custody of Stichting Nederlands Kunstbezit, the Dutch foundation charged with recovering and managing Nazi-looted art, and was subsequently placed with Instituut Collectie Nederland. It is now held by the Rijksmuseum, which houses the painting in its collection.
The painting Ships in Stormy Seas by Jacob van Ruisdael from 1655 is held by the Instituut Collectie Nederland, which inherited the work through the Jacques Goudstikker collection and the heirs of Goudstikker. It entered the Rijksmuseum collection via the Stichting Nederlands Kunstbezit. The artwork has been exhibited at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam as part of its permanent display of Dutch Golden Age paintings.
The work measures 35.5 cm in height and 44.5 cm in width and is catalogued under the inventory number SK-A-2045.
Context
Jacob van Ruisdael's Ships in Stormy Seas, created in 1655 in Haarlem, stands as a significant example of Dutch Golden Age landscape painting. The work exemplifies the artist's mastery in depicting turbulent maritime scenes, focusing on sailing ships and boats amidst rough seas. As a landscape genre piece executed in oil on canvas, it reflects the broader 17th-century Dutch fascination with the power of nature and the maritime trade that defined the era.
The painting's historical trajectory is marked by a complex provenance involving the Jacques Goudstikker collection and the Hermann Göring Collection. Its journey through these collections, and its current status within the Instituut Collectie Nederland and the Stichting Nederlands Kunstbezit, underscores the artwork's survival through periods of conflict and its ongoing importance in the study of Dutch art history.
Overview
Painted in 1655, Ships in Stormy Seas is a quintessential example of Jacob van Ruisdael's early mastery of maritime drama. The composition centers on three small vessels navigating a turbulent, dark sea, with the nearest ship appearing to struggle against the heavy, crashing waves. Ruisdael employs thick, textured brushstrokes to render the churning water and the atmospheric weight of the storm, creating a palpable sense of motion and danger.
Above the chaotic sea, the sky is dominated by dramatic clouds, yet streaks of light near the horizon suggest a break in the weather, adding a complex emotional layer to the scene. This work reflects the Dutch Golden Age's fascination with the power of nature and the vulnerability of human endeavor. Executed during a period when Ruisdael was rapidly developing his distinctive style, the painting demonstrates his ability to combine precise observation of natural phenomena with a heightened sense of theatricality.
It stands as a significant contribution to the tradition of Dutch seascapes, illustrating the artist's skill in capturing the sublime forces of the natural world through oil paint.
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Jacob Isaackszoon van Ruisdael was a Dutch painter, draughtsman, and etcher. He is generally considered the pre-eminent landscape painter of the Dutch Golden Age, a period of great wealth and cultural achievement when…
