Zeilschepen op ruwe zee 1668 - 1677

Pieter Coopse captured Zeilschepen op ruwe zee in the 17th century with pen, brown ink, and brush in gray and brown wash. The grainy paper support gives a naturalistic tone to the artwork. Coopse uses thin washes of ink for the sky and sea. This minimalist approach makes the monochromatic colors and roughness of the paper all the more suggestive. The subject matter is the sea, which was of course the site of intense labor and commerce. Seventeenth-century Dutch painting is well known for its marine subjects. But this isn't the triumphant imagery of naval power. It's a more vulnerable picture of the human relationship to the sea, and perhaps reflective of the many lives that were lost to it. The use of such humble materials—pen and ink—to capture such a dynamic scene only underscores the skill of the artist, reminding us of the value in both labor and material.