Boats Navigating through Channel

Flemish Artist who specialized in landscapes and marinas. Thanks to the documentation of the time, it is known that he also did engravings and wrote poems. The painter was the brother of the artists Gillis, Jan, and Catharina Peeters, these last two were his students. It is believed that Peeters was the first student of Andries van Eertvelt and later on of Simon de Vlieger, whose influence is clearly seen in this art piece. The painter became a master of the Guild of Saint Luke in 1624 along with his brother Gillis. Both of them probably shared an art studio and in 1639 they collaborated in “The Siege of Calloo” commissioned by the officials of the city council of Antwerp. Peeters’ art pieces denote a great knowledge and familiarity with boats. His first paintings can be seen as the traditional panoramic views of marinas with boats in a quiet sea without any type of movement. However, under Vlieger’s influence, he developed freedom in style becoming more naturalistic, and capturing the atmospheric effects by using luminous grey colors. He was a very well-recognized artist in his time because of his way of representing sea storms, shipwrecks with violet waves over the rocks that are closer to the coast, and skies that are extremely cloudy. Peeters’ favorite location was the Scheldt river, he repeatedly painted it in his works. He also portrayed the views of the Southern American coasts. In many occasions, Peeters’ works have been mistaken with Jan Porcelis’ paintings.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• R. H. Wilenski, “Flemish Painters”, Vol. I, p. 689-690
• W. Bernt, “The Netherlandish Painters of the Seventeenth Century”, Phaidon, 1970, Vol II, p. 92, plate 905 y 906
• K. Mullenmeister, “Meer und Land im Licht des 17 Jahrhunderts”, Band I, 1973, p. 50-51-84-85-94-95-122
• R. Preston, “Seventeenth Century Marine Painters of the Netherlands”, 1974, p. 32-34
• J. De Maere & M. Wabbes, “Illustrated Dictionary of 17^th Century Flemish Painters”, p. 315, plates 942-943
• E. Benezit, “Dictionnaire des peintres, sculpteurs, dessinateurs et graveurs”, París, 1999, Tomo 10 p. 685 y 686

PROVENANCE

• Private Collection, París
• Private Collection, Cuneo (Italy)

EXHIBITIONS

Turín, Galería Luigi Caretto, 35ª Mostra Maestri Fiamminghi ed Olandesi del XVI – XVII secolo, 39 Opere d’Autore, N. 26, Noviembre – Diciembre 1994

MUSEUMS

Bonaventura Peeters’ works can be found in many museums around the world including: Amsterdam- Rijksmuseum, Berlin- Gemaldegalerie, Bordeaux- Fine Arts Museum, Budapest- Szépmuvészeti Museum, Dresde- Gemaldegalerie, Stockholm- National Museum, Hartford- Wadsworth Atheneum, Lille- Fine Arts Museum, Saint Petersburg- Hermitage, Vienna- Kunsthistorischen Museum, Galerie Harrach.