ART ANALYSIS: DUTCH BAROQUE ART
A DUTCH EAST-INDIAMAN OFF HOORN PAINTING
A Dutch East-Indiaman off Hoorn is a painting by LAUREYS A CASTRO. He was born in 1644, in Antwerp, and was commonly known for his marine paintings. It is believed that he painted this artwork before 1686. It was posted to https://www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/explore-the-collection/401-450/a-dutch-east-indiaman-off-hoorn/ on an unknown date. The bigger ship in the picture painting is e Ooeivaar, a Dutch East Indiaman and is said to have been anchored in the seaport of Hoorn in Northern Holla
LAUREYS A CASTRO, A Dutch East-Indiaman off Hoorn Painting, 1686, Oil on Canvas (Dulwich Picture Gallery, London)
ELEMENTS
OF ART
A.
THE ELEMENT OF PATTERN
PATTERN
AS REPETITION
The two uppermost masts
and the two uppermost flags are examples of repetition as they are almost
identical in appearance in pattern. They have a concave and an orange-white-red
pattern respectively. Another example of repetition is the pattern of guns protruding
out of the ship.
PATTERN
AS DECORATION
On the front side of the
ship, at the top, there are decorative sculptures of lions in pattern. Below, there
is a visible painting in the pattern of a vulture with its long beak. Further
two more layers below the vulture is a decorative pattern of human lookalike on
the walls bordering the doors.
B.
THE ELEMENT OF LINE
Vertical lines like the
flag poles raised on the ship suggest the height and strength of this e Ooeivaar, a
Dutch East Indiaman ship. Curved lines suggest comfort and ease, for example, the curved concave drawings of the two upper masts on our subject ship. Let’s
conclude that the masts must have been calming the storms in the seas with
relative ease thus steading the ship in times of turbulent weather.
LINE
AS TEXTURE
When zoomed in and taking
a keen closer view, there are visible lines intercrossing each other on the
masts and even the skies. They form a network as if to suggest that there would
be a rough feeling upon touching the actual paper painting with our fingers,
i.e. rough texture.
LINE
AS STRUCTURE
On the left-hand side, behind
e Ooeivaar, a Dutch East Indiaman ship, there is a visible smaller ship, though
faintly drawn. There are several line drawings, some horizontal and some
vertical, others slanting at a certain angle. It is these lines that bring
about the formation of a ship structure.
LINE
AS MOVEMENT
Some little curvy lines
are drawn to represent the ocean currents. This is visible between our subject
ship and the smaller ships in front of it. The artist has employed the use of
small contour lines to depict the smaller wavelengths of this water probably resulting
from the movement of the larger ships on water.
C.
THE ELEMENT OF TEXTURE
Ephemeral texture can be
seen in the blue sky and the clouds paintings. The artist has employed the use
of darker paintings using heavier brushstrokes to depict the texture of
nimbus clouds in the forming. There are lighter blue brushstrokes to depict
the blue cloudless sky.
D.
THE ELEMENT OF COLOR
COLOR
AS CONTRAST
The artist has employed
the use of bright white painting on one side of the masts on the ship to imply
the reflection of the sun whereas the other sides of the masts have been
painted with darker colors to signify the shadow. On the ocean currents too
there is the use of brighter color painting to convey an image of small
wavelengths in the sea. The sea is painted with a color similar to the middle
sky and in some parts similar to the cloudy sky to suggest it’s a reflection of
whatever is above.
COLOR
AS SYMBOL
Five flags raised onboard
the e Ooeivaar, a Dutch East Indiaman ship have each been painted with
horizontal orange, white, and blue(almost similar to green) colors. These were the
colors of the Dutch Empire flag in the 15th & 16th
centuries before it was changed to red, white, and blue. This therefore
symbolizes the domination of Dutch merchants in the trade within that area of
Europe during those times.
CONNECTION
OF E OOEIVAAR, A DUTCH EAST INDIAMAN SHIP PAINTING TO THE RISE OF THE MERCHANT
CLASSES
During the 15th
and 16th centuries, the trade between the European states and its
colonies was boomerang. This led to the rise of the enterprising merchants who
accrued a lot of wealth from the trade. Among this group of filthy rich class were
the Dutch traders. The clever Dutch merchants came together and merged forming
a formidable force in the name of the Dutch East India Company. This version of the Berlin conference (1884) unified the Dutch merchants into one large entity
that was able to compete favorably against other big players (empires) in
Europe and globally at that time.
The company operated
between the Netherlands and its colonies in present-day India, Jakarta,
Japan, and China. The smaller ships of other trade players would bring their
goods from Asia for processing and then put together on the larger ships like the e
Ooeivaar, a Dutch East Indiaman, and taken back to European markets. This vessel
has visible gun points which is a characteristic of the bigger merchant ships
designed to intimidate their competitors in the seas and oceans. It is proof
of how violent and ruthless the Dutch merchants under the umbrella of the Dutch
East India Company were willing to go in order to protect their trade and
dominate it by expanding and conquering weaker players thus increasing their
wealth. It is from this trade that the money was acquired to pay the artists
who were flocking into the lucrative marine artworks such as our featured
artist, LAUREYS A CASTRO.
CITATIONS
Cartwright Bequest,1686, A Dutch East-Indiaman off Hoorn | Dulwich Picture Gallery.
Cartwright Bequest,1686.https://www.dulwichpicturegallery.org.uk/explore-the-collection/401-450/a-dutch-east-indiaman-off-hoorn
The Visual Elements (artyfactory.com) accessed 1st October 2023.
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