Reinier Nooms (c. 1623 – 1664), also known as Zeeman or Seeman (

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

for "sailor"), was a

maritime painter known for his highly detailed paintings and

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

s of ships. From the 1650s, Nooms started producing and initially publishing a series of etchings of ships and topographical views. This etching work is characterised by great refinement and was used by many other artists as an example.

Life

Nooms was probably born and died in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, but no records survived. From 1643 he started painting and drawing following a rough, drunken life as a sailor. It is not known how he acquired his skill as an artist. His knowledge of ships is evident from his work: ships and foreign locations are depicted with high accuracy and in great detail and served as an example to other artists of how to depict ships. A favourite subject of his paintings were the Dutch victories in the

Anglo-Dutch Wars The Anglo–Dutch Wars ( nl, Engels–Nederlandse Oorlogen) were a series of conflicts mainly fought between the Dutch Republic and England (later Great Britain) from mid-17th to late 18th century. The first three wars occurred in the second ...

. For instance, he painted the ''Amalia'', the flagship of admiral

Maarten Tromp Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp (also written as ''Maerten Tromp''; 23 April 1598 – 31 July 1653) was a Dutch army general and admiral in the Dutch navy. Son of a ship's captain, Tromp spent much of his childhood at sea, including being captured ...

, before the

Battle of the Downs The Battle of the Downs took place on 21 October 1639 (New Style), during the Eighty Years' War. A Spanish fleet, commanded by Admiral Antonio de Oquendo, was decisively defeated by a Dutch force under Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp. Vict ...

. This painting is on show in the

National Maritime Museum The National Maritime Museum (NMM) is a maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is part of Royal Museums Greenwich, a network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. Like other publicly funded national museums in the United ...

Greenwich Greenwich ( , ,) is a town in south-east London, England, within the ceremonial county of Greater London. It is situated east-southeast of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich ...

, UK. His painting of the

Battle of Leghorn The naval Battle of Leghorn took place on 4 March 1653 (14 March Gregorian calendar), during the First Anglo-Dutch War, near Leghorn (Livorno), Italy. It was a victory of a Dutch squadron under Commodore Johan van Galen over an English squadron ...

in 1653 is in the collection of the

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the St ...

. A widely travelled artist, Nooms visited

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

(1650-1652, 1656),

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

and possibly

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

(1657), and journeyed along the coast of

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

with

Michiel de Ruyter Michiel Adriaenszoon de Ruyter (; 24 March 1607 – 29 April 1676) was a Dutch admiral. Widely celebrated and regarded as one of the most skilled admirals in history, De Ruyter is arguably most famous for his achievements with the Dutch N ...

(1661-1663). It is not clear where and when he married Maria Moosijn from

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

, but the couple had two daughters baptized in 1653 and 1655. In the 1650s, Nooms made a series of etchings of ships and topographical views characterized by a high degree of detail and precision. These etchings were published by Cornelis Danckerts and Clement de Jonghe and served as an example to many artists. One of Nooms' final works, from 1664, shows a view of the Amsterdam harbour, with the IJ bay and the

's Lands Zeemagazijn s Lands Zeemagazijn ("National Sea Arsenal") is a 17th-century building in the Oosterdok near Kattenburgerplein in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, which served as arsenal of the Admiralty of Amsterdam. Designed by Daniël Stalpaert and constru ...

naval arsenal, now the

Nederlands Scheepvaartmuseum The National Maritime Museum ( nl, Het Scheepvaartmuseum, ) is a maritime museum in Amsterdam in the Netherlands. The museum had 419,060 visitors in 2012. It ranked as 11th most visited museum in the Netherlands in 2013. The museum had 300,00 ...

(Netherlands Maritime Museum). Appropriately, this work is on show in the Netherlands Maritime Museum. The 19th-century French etcher

Charles Meryon Charles Meryon (sometimes Méryon, 23 November 1821 – 14 February 1868) was a French artist who worked almost entirely in etching, as he had colour blindness. Although now little-known in the English-speaking world, he is generally recognise ...

was highly influenced by Nooms, whose etchings of Paris cityscapes inspired his own series of Paris etchings. Meryon dedicated some of these works to Nooms in poetic form.

References

External links

Maritime Art Greenwich
(archived)

* https://www.nga.gov/collection/artist-info.3456.html * https://open.smk.dk/artwork/image/KMSsp537?list=KKS10094 {{DEFAULTSORT:Nooms, Reinier Nooms, Reinier Nooms, Reinier Nooms, Reinier Nooms, Reinier Nooms, Reinier Nooms, Reinier Nooms, Reinier