Jan Josefsz. van Goyen (Leiden 1596-1656 The Hague)

The more varied range of tones in the present work, as well as the treatment of the figures and boats, has much in common with van Goyen's style of the late 1640s; however, the dynamic brushwork in the sky is typical of the paintings executed between 1652 and the artist's death in 1656. The freely-painted clouds are as much his subject as the shore scene below, and although the water remains calm, the darker clouds gathering at right suggest the uneasy quiet before an impending storm.