Simon de Vlieger
View of a Beach1646

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Oil painting of a 17th-century Dutch beach scene with figures, horses, and sailing ships, under a wide sky of billowing clouds

Artist or Maker: Simon de Vlieger
Northern Netherlands, 1601-1653
Title: View of a Beach
Date Made: 1646
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: Canvas: 35 × 53 in. (88.9 × 134.62 cm) Framed: 44 × 62 × 2 1/2 in. (111.76 × 157.48 × 6.35 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Edward William Carter
Accession Number: AC1995.179.1
Classification: Paintings
Collecting Area: European Painting and Sculpture
Curatorial Notes: De Vlieger established his career by returning repeatedly to the subject of atmospheric maritime scenes. In this example, set in Texel on the North Sea, people of different classes mingle on the beach: a couple embrace, fishermen sell their catch, and people wait excitedly for those disembarking the boats. A Dutch fleet has landed at a roadstead, a sheltered body of water where ships can anchor safely for loading and unloading people and cargo.

Texel was a significant island for the Dutch Republic as it served as a departure point, especially for merchant ships of the Dutch East India Company. Although peaceful in de Vlieger’s scene, the region would see conflict during the Anglo-Dutch Wars as global powers struggled for maritime and colonial supremacy. Here, the large ship at left flies two flags—a large red flag at the stern and a red, blue, and white flag from the mainsail—indicating it belongs to the admiral. Scholar Amy Walsh suggests that this vessel, turned away from the land to head out to sea, and with the seal of Amsterdam visible on the stern, might be the major transport ship Amsterdam. In use by the Dutch East India Company from 1632 to 1648, it sailed multiple times from Texel to Indonesia and Japan.
Provenance: Possibly Johanna van den Berch (Bergh), Amsterdam and Achtienhoven, widow of Gerard Stijls (d. 1673), provost of the College of the Admiralty of Amsterdam, later wife of Justus van Sonsbeeck, sheriff of Achtienhoven, by 9 Feb. 1678, as “f.46 (1) een Tesselstrant van Jan de Vlieger.”(2) Possibly John Stewart (sale, London, Barford, 11 Mar. 1783, lot 59, as “A sea view on the coast of Holland, acalm, with a variety of shipping and boats; a very brilliant and transparent picture, in high preservation,” sold for £48.6). Probably George Watson Taylor (1770–1841), London and Erlestoke Mansion near Devizes, Wiltshire (sale, London, Christie’s, 13 June 1823, lot 51, as “A Harbour with Boats near a Strand, and a Ship firing a Salute, a Fisherman in the front ground; the Scene is enlivened by a beautiful sky. An Admirable Picture for richness of colour and transparent effect,” sold for £131.5 to); Lawley, (3) 18 Grosvenor Square, London. T. A. Carlyon, Bournemouth (estate sale, London, Christie’s, 4 Oct. 1946, lot 83, as “The Arrival of the Prince of Orange, at Flushing,” sold for £483 to); [D. Katz, Dieren]. [A. Kaufmann, London, in 1946]. [Alfred Brod, London, 1952]. Mrs. M. D. Langloh-van den Bergh, Wassenaar (sale, London, Sotheby’s, 10 Dec. 1980, lot 82, sold to); [David Koetser, Geneva, sold 1981 to]; Mr. and Mrs. Edward William Carter, Los Angeles, given 1995 to; LACMA.
Footnotes
(1) 46 florins. Note, all the paintings listed in the inventory were valued 46 florins.
(2) “A beach at Texel by Jan de Vlieger.” The painting is mentioned in the inventory made of Johanna van den Bergh’s possessions in anticipation of her remarriage: “Inventaris van de goederen die Johanna vanden Berch weduwe van Gerard Stijls in sijn leven geweldige provost van het Collegie ter Admiraliteijt tot Amsterdam heft ingebracht by haar huwelijk met Justus van Sonsbeeck schout van Achtienhoven,” 9 Feb. 1678, Gemeentearchief, Utrecht, GAU U080a005, fols. 42r–55r (quoted from Getty Provenance Index, Archival Inventories Database, N-75). No seventeenth-century artist is known with the last name De Vlieger and the first name of Jan; the attribution probably represents the notary’s misreading of the S with which Simon de Vlieger signed the painting.
(3) Possibly Paul Beilby Lawley (1784–1852), 1st Baron Wenlock, who changed his name to Paul Beilby Thompson in 1820.
Selected Bibliography: Los Angeles County Museum of Art Members' Calendar 1992, vol. 29-30, no. 12-1 (December, 1991-January, 1993).
Walsh, Jr., John., and Cynthis P. Schneider. A Mirror of Nature: Dutch Paintings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Edward William Carter (Second Edition). Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1992.
Sutton, Peter C. El Siglo de Oro del Paisaje Holandés. Madrid: Fundación Colección Thyssen-Bornemisza, 1994.
Walsh, Amy L. The Mr. and Mrs. Edward Carter Collection of Dutch Paintings. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2019. https://archive.org/details/Carter_Collection_Dutch_Paintings (accessed May 23, 2022).

Simon de Vlieger
View of a Beach1646

On view:

Geffen Galleries

Artist or Maker: Simon de Vlieger
Northern Netherlands, 1601-1653
Title: View of a Beach
Date Made: 1646
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: Canvas: 35 × 53 in. (88.9 × 134.62 cm) Framed: 44 × 62 × 2 1/2 in. (111.76 × 157.48 × 6.35 cm)
Credit Line: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Edward William Carter
Accession Number: AC1995.179.1
Classification: Paintings
Collecting Area: European Painting and Sculpture
Curatorial Notes: De Vlieger established his career by returning repeatedly to the subject of atmospheric maritime scenes. In this example, set in Texel on the North Sea, people of different classes mingle on the beach: a couple embrace, fishermen sell their catch, and people wait excitedly for those disembarking the boats. A Dutch fleet has landed at a roadstead, a sheltered body of water where ships can anchor safely for loading and unloading people and cargo.

Texel was a significant island for the Dutch Republic as it served as a departure point, especially for merchant ships of the Dutch East India Company. Although peaceful in de Vlieger’s scene, the region would see conflict during the Anglo-Dutch Wars as global powers struggled for maritime and colonial supremacy. Here, the large ship at left flies two flags—a large red flag at the stern and a red, blue, and white flag from the mainsail—indicating it belongs to the admiral. Scholar Amy Walsh suggests that this vessel, turned away from the land to head out to sea, and with the seal of Amsterdam visible on the stern, might be the major transport ship Amsterdam. In use by the Dutch East India Company from 1632 to 1648, it sailed multiple times from Texel to Indonesia and Japan.
Provenance: Possibly Johanna van den Berch (Bergh), Amsterdam and Achtienhoven, widow of Gerard Stijls (d. 1673), provost of the College of the Admiralty of Amsterdam, later wife of Justus van Sonsbeeck, sheriff of Achtienhoven, by 9 Feb. 1678, as “f.46 (1) een Tesselstrant van Jan de Vlieger.”(2) Possibly John Stewart (sale, London, Barford, 11 Mar. 1783, lot 59, as “A sea view on the coast of Holland, acalm, with a variety of shipping and boats; a very brilliant and transparent picture, in high preservation,” sold for £48.6). Probably George Watson Taylor (1770–1841), London and Erlestoke Mansion near Devizes, Wiltshire (sale, London, Christie’s, 13 June 1823, lot 51, as “A Harbour with Boats near a Strand, and a Ship firing a Salute, a Fisherman in the front ground; the Scene is enlivened by a beautiful sky. An Admirable Picture for richness of colour and transparent effect,” sold for £131.5 to); Lawley, (3) 18 Grosvenor Square, London. T. A. Carlyon, Bournemouth (estate sale, London, Christie’s, 4 Oct. 1946, lot 83, as “The Arrival of the Prince of Orange, at Flushing,” sold for £483 to); [D. Katz, Dieren]. [A. Kaufmann, London, in 1946]. [Alfred Brod, London, 1952]. Mrs. M. D. Langloh-van den Bergh, Wassenaar (sale, London, Sotheby’s, 10 Dec. 1980, lot 82, sold to); [David Koetser, Geneva, sold 1981 to]; Mr. and Mrs. Edward William Carter, Los Angeles, given 1995 to; LACMA.
Footnotes
(1) 46 florins. Note, all the paintings listed in the inventory were valued 46 florins.
(2) “A beach at Texel by Jan de Vlieger.” The painting is mentioned in the inventory made of Johanna van den Bergh’s possessions in anticipation of her remarriage: “Inventaris van de goederen die Johanna vanden Berch weduwe van Gerard Stijls in sijn leven geweldige provost van het Collegie ter Admiraliteijt tot Amsterdam heft ingebracht by haar huwelijk met Justus van Sonsbeeck schout van Achtienhoven,” 9 Feb. 1678, Gemeentearchief, Utrecht, GAU U080a005, fols. 42r–55r (quoted from Getty Provenance Index, Archival Inventories Database, N-75). No seventeenth-century artist is known with the last name De Vlieger and the first name of Jan; the attribution probably represents the notary’s misreading of the S with which Simon de Vlieger signed the painting.
(3) Possibly Paul Beilby Lawley (1784–1852), 1st Baron Wenlock, who changed his name to Paul Beilby Thompson in 1820.
Selected Bibliography: Los Angeles County Museum of Art Members' Calendar 1992, vol. 29-30, no. 12-1 (December, 1991-January, 1993).
Walsh, Jr., John., and Cynthis P. Schneider. A Mirror of Nature: Dutch Paintings from the Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Edward William Carter (Second Edition). Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1992.
Sutton, Peter C. El Siglo de Oro del Paisaje Holandés. Madrid: Fundación Colección Thyssen-Bornemisza, 1994.
Walsh, Amy L. The Mr. and Mrs. Edward Carter Collection of Dutch Paintings. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 2019. https://archive.org/details/Carter_Collection_Dutch_Paintings (accessed May 23, 2022).