LAWRENCE STEIGRAD FINE ARTS

Old Master Paintings, Drawings, and British Portraits

AERNOUT SMIT (Amsterdam 1641/42 – Amsterdam 1710)

 Shipping Along the Coastline of a Town

Signed with initials AS on the small boat in the foreground

oil on panel

7.1 x 7.5 inches   (18 x 19 cm.)


PROVENANCE

Rafael Valls Limited, London


In this idyllic view under a bright sky various ships travel calm seas along the coast of a sizable town.

 Aernout Smit was probably a pupil of Jan Theunisz Blanckerhoff. He was married to Marietie Jans Weema, who ran a grocery store. When he posted the banns in 1663 prior to his marriage, he listed his profession as a sailor. By 1667 it is thought that he painted scenes on commission for the art dealer Laurens Cornelisz. de Coninck. By 1688 Smit was a member of the St. Luke’s Guild in Amsterdam. His primary focus was seascapes, but he also painted beach scenes and landscapes. Ludolf Backhuysen was a major influence on his work.[1]

Works by the artist formed part of the permanent collections of the museums in Bergamo, Bonn, Copenhagen, Darmstadt, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Mannheim, Nantes, Oslo, Rotenburg, and Schwerin, among others.


[1] Biographical information taken from “Aernout Smit” on rkd.nl (RKD Explore) website; and Aernout Smit,

  The Kremer Collection at thekremercollection.com.  

Lawrence Steigrad Fine Arts

Tel: (212) 517-3643            Email: gallery@steigrad.com