'De Wind is Op!'

“Whaleship D'Vergulde Walvis” ("The Golden Whale") passing the tollhouse at Buiksloot on the IJ River, north of Amsterdam, 1759, (oil on canvas), by Johanes de Blaauw, in the Kendall Whaling Museum (Sharon, Mass.) Collection. This is in the show “De Wind is Op! Climate, Culture and Innovation in Dutch Maritime Painting,’’ through May 15 at the New Bedford Whaling Museum.

The museum says:

“The exhibition includes up to 50 paintings, prints, and other artifacts from the museum's extensive Dutch collections. ‘De Wind is Op!‘ explores the work of the Dutch and Flemish Golden Age, themed around the wind, climate, and sea.

“The Dutch were pioneers in the genre of seascape painting, and the works in the museum's collection speak to a uniquely Dutch national identity. The Dutch were shaped by the sea, prospering as a maritime superpower through the 17th Century. One in ten men in the country was at sea at any given time, resulting in a country with an intimate connection to the ocean.

“At the same time, the demand for fine art was at an all-time high as collecting became popular. This created a surge of seascapes painted with refined compositions and exquisite detail, but also with reality kept in mind. There was little need or want to embellish the ocean when it was already larger than life to Dutch culture. ‘De Wind is Op!’ offers a unique portrait of national identity and a new perspective on the ocean.’’