Coastal scene with beached vessels, evening
Hulk was a pupil of the celebrated portrait painter J.A. Daiwaille (1786-1856) before turning to marine painting. He studied at the Amsterdam Academy from 1828 to 1834, visited the U.S.A. and held several successful exhibitions there before returning to Holland. Hulk finally settled in London in 1870 where he worked for 27 years and is therefore regarded as a British marine artist. Despite becoming established in Britain, his work remained typically Dutch in its influence. This painting typifies the work of the seventeenth century Dutch masters in having a shadowed foreground to give added drama to the sunlit sails of the shipping in the middle distance. Also, like many early Dutch marine pictures, Hulk has used an open rowing boat with a fisherman casting his net to add interest to the foreground of the seascape.
