Pieter Mulier the Elder Haarlem between 1590-1615 - 1670

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Description

Pieter Mulier the Elder
dutch fishing pinks and other small vessels at sea in stormy weather
signed in monogram on a spar lower left: PML
oil on oak panel

Provenance

With David Koetser, Zurich;
With K.J. Müllenmeister, Solingen;
With Fred Enneking, Amsterdam, from whom bought by the Herwegs in 1971.

Literature

L.J. Bol, Die holländische Marinemalerei de 17. Jahrhunderts, Brunswick 1973, p. 143-145, reproduced in colour p. 144, no. 147;
K.J. Müllenmeister, Meer und Land im Licht des 17. Jahrhunderts, vol. I, Bremen 1973, p. 52, reproduced.

Catalogue Note

Mulier was, with Jan Porcellis, the best of the Dutch marine painters to apply the tonal developments of landscapists such as Jan van Goyen and Salomon van Ruysdael to their chosen subject matter. Since sea, to a greater extent than land, inevitably takes on the prevailing tones of the sky, Mulier tended to use warm tones of pink, or as here, bluish-mauve, to soften the predominent leaden grey of the sky. His clouds thus often threaten thunder, giving his pictures a distinctive mood. He also liked to paint small boats struggling with a brutal staccato chop thrown up by the shallow waters of the Zuider Zee or the Dutch estuaries, rather than larger vessels riding the larger rolling seas found offshore.

Sold with the certificate of Dr. Walther Bernt, dated 21 March 1971.