Artwork
A Kaag and a Smak in a Calm
A Kaag and a Smak in a Calm is an oil painting by the Dutch Golden Age artist Jan van de Cappelle. It dates from 1653 and is held in the collection of the Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
The painting depicts a maritime scene featuring a Kaag and a Smak, two traditional Dutch sailing vessels, resting on calm water.
The painting depicts a maritime scene featuring a Kaag and a Smak, two traditional Dutch sailing vessels, resting on calm water. The composition centers on these boats as the principal subjects, with figures aboard engaged in everyday maritime labor. According to the catalogue entry, the work depicts men, a Kaag, a sailboat, a longboat, and the activities of fishing and the handling of fishing nets, situating the scene within the working life of the Dutch coastal and inland waterways rather than as a dramatic seascape.
As a landscape painting by Jan van de Cappelle, the work belongs to the seventeenth-century Dutch tradition of marine imagery in which tranquil water surfaces and carefully observed vessels conveyed both the commercial vitality of the Republic and a meditative appreciation of light, atmosphere, and stillness. The calm conditions and the presence of fishing equipment suggest a theme of peaceful, productive labor on the water.
Technique & Style
Created in 1653, A Kaag and a Smak in a Calm is an oil painting executed on a canvas support. The work measures 47.6 cm in height and 53 cm in width. As a landscape painting by Jan van de Cappelle, the medium and format are consistent with the artist's known practice of depicting maritime scenes.
The composition features a calm sea setting populated by specific vessels, including a kaag and a smak, alongside figures engaged in fishing activities.
History & Provenance
The work titled A Kaag and a Smak in a Calm was painted by Jan van de Cappelle in 1653. It entered the collection of Richard Clemson Barnett before passing to Arthur Heywood-Lonsdale and subsequently to Henry Heywood-Lonsdale. The painting remained within the Heywood-Lonsdale family until it was acquired by Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo, who placed it in their collection at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, where it is currently housed at Shavington Hall.
The work was created as an oil on canvas landscape depicting a man in a fishing longboat surrounded by a Kaag and a Smak amidst a calm sea.
The work A Kaag and a Smak in a Calm is held in the Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. It was previously owned by Richard Clemson Barnett, Arthur Heywood-Lonsdale, and Henry Heywood-Lonsdale before entering the van Otterloo Collection. Exhibition history is not recorded in the provided sources.
Context
Jan van de Cappelle's 1653 oil painting A Kaag and a Smak in a Calm has been discussed in scholarly contexts as an exemplar of Dutch Golden Age marine and landscape genre work, reflecting the artist's mastery of atmospheric effects and compositional balance within the broader trajectory of 17th-century Dutch painting. The work's provenance through private collections before its acquisition by the Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection and its current display at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston underscores its significance within institutional holdings of Dutch art. Its inclusion in the collection highlights its role in contemporary scholarship on Dutch marine painting and its contribution to understanding the development of genre scenes in the Netherlands during the 1600s.
Overview
Created in 1653, A Kaag and a Smak in a Calm is an oil on canvas by Jan van de Cappelle, a Dutch painter noted for his maritime scenes. The work is part of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston’s collection and portrays a tranquil harbor populated by several vessels and fishermen at work.
Artist & collection
Artist
Jan van de Cappelle (or Joannes / van der / Capelle in various combinations; 25 January 1626 (baptized) – 22 December 1679 (buried)) was a Dutch Golden Age painter of seascapes and winter landscapes, also notable as an industrialist and…
Museum
Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection
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