One of the most treasured marine paintings by Jan van de Cappelle arrives on auction at Bonhams with a staggering estimate from £300,000 to £500,000 ($404,926 to $674,877).
Part of the Old Master Paintings event by the auction house, scheduled on July 2nd in London, the artwork comes on a public stage after its sale through Christie’s for an impressive £475,650 in 2003. The painting was last exhibited at Bredius Museum between 10 December 2019 – 1 March 2020.
Jan van de Cappelle, who painted this lyrical composition in his twenties, is one of the most renowned Dutch Golden Age painters from the 1600s to execute his skills in creating marine paintings. The painting in attention is a work that the artist must have painted in the 1650s, during his late twenties. The timeline of this painting is corroborated by the signature format of the artist – Wolfgang Stechow suggests that the artist used ‘j v capelle’, (as used here) as his signature only till 1650-51, after which he used his spelling ‘cappelle’.
The composition portrays a lyrical and atmospheric coastal scene with an unidentified stretch of coast in a dead calm. The sea is flat and there are puffed-up dark and light clouds in the sky that occupy three-quarters of the composition. There is a sandbank in the foreground, which acts as a horizontal structure in the composition contrasted tightly with the architectural verticals of the sails. The dramatic tension between the brooding sky and clouds that threaten to rain alongside the mirror-like water below further exhibits the artist’s exceptional hand in such compositions. The picture may symbolize the toilsome circumstances of humans, which hover like dark clouds, demanding the most pristine state of mind, just like the calming water needed to escape collapse.
Van de Cappelle of Holland belonged to a well-to-do family and became famous for his sheer hobby and interest in the art of painting. His serene landscapes, almost all of which subject a marine environment, showcase his careful observation of the sea and sky. As per some historians, this talent of Cappelle was germinated when he spent his time in the studio of Simon de Vlieger, a claim that contrasts with Gerbrand van den Eeckhout’s suggestion,
“Although the silvery tones of the older artist’s coastal views are softened into a warmer, more golden colouring by van de Cappelle.”
There are no more than 150 works that can be attributed to Cappelle, as the artist retired as a painter for a possible reason of growing family business and its demands to engage the artist in the work of crimson cloth dyeing. Most of these works, including the only one that is dated to the 1660s are now in public institutions. Not only does this fact make Cappelle an important painter to know about but significantly increases his value in the art market.
Featured Image: Marine painting by Jan van de Cappelle; Bonhams.
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