A Squadron Going to Windward in a Gale
Brooking is now regarded as the finest English marine painter of his generation. His achievements as a seascape painter can be compared with his 17th century Dutch predecessors. This magnificent seascape with its convincing rendering of a storm and beautifully observed shipping owes almost all of its merits to the inspiration of William van de Velde the Younger (1633-1707), especially in its composition and weather effects. The Baroque rhythms of the composition are entirely different from the calm of the Hull school painters half a century later.
