Coast Scene
c. 1655
Medium
Oil on canvas
Dimensions
53.7 × 48.6 cm (21 1/8 × 19 1/8 in.)
Classification
oil paintings (visual works)
Department
Painting and Sculpture of Europe
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
495
Art Historical Context
Reinier Nooms, known by his nickname “Zeeman” (Dutch for “sailor”), was a 17th-century Dutch artist celebrated for his marine subjects. Painted around 1655, *Coast Scene* captures a quiet stretch of shoreline with boats at anchor and figures going about their daily work. The modest size of the canvas invites close viewing, rewarding the eye with the subtle play of light on water and the crisp silhouettes of masts against the sky. Nooms’s career coincided with the height of Dutch maritime power, when the young republic dominated European trade and naval affairs. His firsthand experience at sea...
About the Artist
Reinier Nooms, called Zeeman
Reinier Nooms, known as Zeeman ("sailor" in Dutch), was a prominent Dutch maritime painter, draftsman, and etcher of the Golden Age, born around 1623 or 1624 in Amsterdam and dying there in 1664 at about age 40. Before turning to art around 1643, he led a rough life as a professional seaman, which informed his unparalleled accuracy in depicting ships, ports, naval battles, and coastal scenes—knowl...