Ships in a Storm off Enkhuizen
A swirling, choppy sea and a mass of menacing clouds is the setting for the ominous drama played out here by Backhuyzen. The painter depicts various aspects of nature’s violent temper. On the right in the foreground two vessels are battling the storm. The waves smash against their sides. The larger vessel has struck its sail, but while it is being furled to the yard the wind plays havoc with the canvas. A sailor in white trousers and a red cap is holding tightly to the mast as he tries to keep control of the billowing cloth. In the ship’s path lies a tiny fishing boat, but it is too late to change course. Using a pole a seaman attempts to keep the smaller vessel out of harm’s way. But the gale is lord and master, and the impending impact inescapable. We can almost hear the sound of cracking wood as the two craft collide.
While these vessels struggle against the elements, on the left a magnificent three-master rides out to calmer waters. Despite a severe battering, the stately frigate has managed to survive the storm. Dutch seamanship overcomes nature’s violence. On the
stern is a gilt carved wooden lion. Above it, flying from the taffrail is the Dutch tricolour: forming a magnificent focal point. It can hardly be coincidence that the artist has placed the Republic’s symbol centre stage. After all, the painting dates
from a time in which the Dutch Republic formed the lynchpin in resistance to the French king Louis XIV’s expansionism in Europe.
A spectacular feature of the painting is the way the artist used light. Light and dark battle for supremacy. On the horizon, far in the distance, a ray of sunshine catches a town, Enkhuizen. Backhuyzen portrayed it in yellowish-pink hues with a few
strokes of the brush. Dark and ominous clouds on the right rise up high from the horizon, but to the left the skies open up and the sun finds a way through. It is bright and clear on the left half of the painting, where the three-master is making for
safer waters.
For the Storm Backhuyzen chose a wide, expansive composition. On the right, below, the violent weather reaches its height: the drama grabs the viewer. We are on that ship in the middle of the storm together with those sailors. Anxiously we look
up, searching for the coastline. But there is hope. The frigate has made it. As the skies clear there is a pinkish glow in the air. In the centre, the Dutch tricolour leads us from storm to safety: secure and prosperous under the Republic of the United
Provinces.
Provenance
Warnar Wreesman Borghartzoon collection auction, Amsterdam: Amsterdam (Ph. van der Schley, C.S. Roos and J. de Vries), 11 April 1816, no. 5;
C.J. Nieuwenhuys collection, Brussels;
Hérard collection, Paris, 1817;
C.J. Nieuwenhuys collection, Brussels;
King William II of the Netherlands collection, Brussels and The Hague, 1823;
King William II collection auction: The Hague (J. de Vries, C.S. Roos and J.A. Brondgeest), 12 August 1850, no. 97;
Baron Arnold Willem van Brienen collection, Amsterdam, Herengracht 182;
Baron Willem Thierry van Brienen collection auction: Paris (Le Roy), 8 June 1865, no. 1;
Count Charles Joseph François de Mercy-Argenteau;
Monsieur Y;
Madame X (marries Monsieur Y in 1953);
Madame X auction: London (Christie’s), 4 March 2004, no. 338
Exhibitions
Gothic gallery at Kneuterdijk Palace, The Hague (now Raad van State), c. 1840 - 1850
References
C.J. Nieuwenhuys, Description de la collection de tableaux, qui ornent le palais de S.A.R. mgr le prince d’Orange à Bruxeles, Brussels 1837, no. 47, pp. 98-99
C.J. Nieuwenhuys, Description de la Galerie des tableaux de S.M. le roi des Pays-Bas, avec quelques remarques sur l’histoire des peintres et sur le progrès de l’art, Brussels 1843, no. 82
Catalogue des tableaux anciens et modernes, de diverses écoles; dessins et statues, formant la galerie de feu Sa Majesté Guillaume II, Roi des Pays-Bas, Prince d’Orange-Nassau, Grand-Duc de Luxembourg etc. dont la vente aura lieu lundi le 12 août 1850
et jours suivants à 10 heures du matin au palais de feu Sa Majesté à La Haye par le Ministère de Jerôme de Vries, Corneille François Roos et Jean Albert Brondgeest, Amsterdam chez W. Willems, Libraire, Vijzelstraat 111, 1850, no. 97
Notice des prix de tableaux, dessins et statues, formant la galerie de feu Sa Majesté Guillaume II, vendus à La Haye le 12 août et jours suivants, The Hague 1850, no. 97
Souvenir de la galerie de feu Sa Majesté Guillaume II, roi des Pays-Bas, prince d’Orange-Nassau, grand-duc de Luxembourg, etc., vendue à La Haye, le 12 août, avec annotation authentique des prix et des acquereurs, Amsterdam 1850, no. 97
F. Horsch and E. Hinterding, ‘A small but choice collection: the art-gallery of King William II of The Netherlands (1792-1849)’, Simiolus 19 (1989) 1/2, pp. 5-123, no. 97
G. de Beer, Ludolf Backhuysen (1630-1708), Sein Leben und Werk, Zwolle 2002, p. 72, fig. 77, no. 27