Ludolf Bakhuizen, who was born in Emden,…
December 1702 CE
Ludolf Bakhuizen, who was born in Emden, East Frisia, and had come to Amsterdam in about 1650, working as a merchant's clerk and a calligrapher, had discovered so strong a genius for painting that he had relinquished the business and devoted himself to art from the late 1650s, initially in pen drawings.
He studied first under Allart van Everdingen and then under Hendrik Dubbels, two eminent masters of the time, and soon became celebrated for his sea-pieces, which often have rough seas.
An ardent student of nature, Bakhuizen frequently exposes 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.
In his later years, Bakhuizen employs his skills in etching; he also paints a few examples each of several other genres of painting, such as portraits, landscapes and genre paintings.
During his life Bakhuizen has been visited by Cosimo III de' Medici, Peter the Great and also works for various German princes.
He had opened a gallery in 1699 on the top floor of the famous Amsterdam town hall.