Ludolf Bakhuizen

"Backhuysen" redirects here. For the World War II tanker, seeMV Backhuysen.

Self-portrait

Ludolf Bakhuizen(28 December 1630 or 1632 – 7 November 1708) was a German-bornDutchpainter, draughtsman, calligrapher and printmaker.He was the leading Dutch painter of maritime subjects afterWillem van de Velde the ElderandYoungerleft for England in 1672. He also painted portraits of his family and circle of friends.

Life

The merchant G. Bartolotti lived at Herengracht. At the end of his life Bakhuizen lived across this mansion.

He was born inEmden,East Frisia,and came to Amsterdam around 1650, working as a merchant's clerk atHerengracht.He discovered so strong a genius for painting that he relinquished the business and devoted himself to art from the late 1650s, initially in pen drawings andcalligraphy.He studied first underAllart van Everdingenand then underHendrik Dubbels,two eminent masters of the time, and soon became celebrated for his sea-pieces, which often had rough seas.In 1663 he became a member of thepainters guild.He was influenced byWillem van de Velde the Elder.Bakhuizen assistedBartholomeus van der Helstin 1668.

He was an ardent student of nature, and frequently exposed himself on the sea in an open boat in order to study the effects of storms. His compositions, which are numerous, are nearly all variations of one subject, the sea, and in a style peculiarly his own, marked by intense realism or faithful imitation of nature. He moved frequently as he married four times and lived at Haarlemmerstraat,Nes,N.Z. Voorburgwal, Rozengracht, Singel across theDoelen,and at Herengracht 193 (between Oude Leliestraat and Driekoningenstraat) which was sold in 1749.

In his later years Bakhuizen employed his skills inetching;he also painted a few examples each of several other genres of painting, such as portraits, landscapes andgenre paintings.Bakhuizen painted portraits of his large circle of friends. These are of lesser artistic value but provide an insight into his good relations with contemporary scholars and literary figures.

During his life Bakhuizen was visited byCosimo III de' Mediciin 1669 andPeter the Greatin 1697; he also worked for various German princes. In 1699 he opened a gallery on the top floor of theAmsterdam townhall.After a visit to England he was buried on 12 November 1708 atWesterkerk.Their son Johannis (1683-) wasmuteand had to be taken care off, after his mother died in 1717.

Gallery

• 
  Ships in a Storm,1670s - 1690s
• 
  Seascape and Fishing Boats,1708
• 
  Battle of Vigo Bay1702
• 
  Dutchman Embarking onto a Yacht,1670-1679
• 
  Johan de Liefde, Vice-Admiral
• 
  The Y at Amsterdam viewed from Mussel Pier

References

• Broos, B. P. J. (6 January 2017), "Bakhuizen, Ludolf",Grove Art Online, Oxford Art Online,Oxford University Press
• Houbraken, Arnold(1718),"Ludolf Bakhuizen biography",De groote schouburgh der Nederlantsche konstschilders en schilderessen,Digital library for Dutch literature
• MacLaren, Neil (1991),The Dutch School, 1600–1800,Vol. I,National Gallery Catalogues, London: National Gallery,ISBN0-947645-99-3

Attribution:

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911), "Backhuysen, Ludolf",Encyclopædia Britannica,vol. 3 (11th ed.), Cambridge University Press, p. 135

External links

• 61 artworks by or after Ludolf Bakhuizenat theArt UKsite
• "Ludolf Backhuysen",Encyclopædia Britannica,vol. 3 (9th ed.), 1878, p. 200
• Media related toLudolf Bakhuizenat Wikimedia Commons
• "Ships in Distress in a Heavy Storm",Rijksmuseum