*This painting is sold but the artist is regularly available in our inventory		Pieter Mulier The Elder* 1610 – Haarlem – 1670 A Seascape Oil on panel 11 1/2 x 14 1/2 inches (29 x 36.7 cm) Provenance: With Galerie Commeter, Hamburg, as Simon de Vlieger Pieter Mulier was first recorded as a member of the Haarlem St. Luke guild of painters in 1640.  He has traditionally been cited as a pupil of Salomon van Ruysdael although Mulier's work bears considerably stronger affinities to that of Jan Porcelis and to the Leiden school of marine painting rather than of Haarlem.  The artist primarily focused on shipping scenes in fresh breezes or storms.  He was the teacher of his son, Pieter Mulier the Younger who left for Italy while he was still young and made a name for himself there, often referred to as “Cavaliere Tempesta” for his depictions of tempestuous marine paintings. Our painting is a typical example of the master’s work from his mature period.  He often represented the open ocean with a foreground of waves with whitecaps and whitewater.  This piece includes one of Mulier’s preferred devices, a small open boat caught on the crest of a wave to emphasize the dramatic atmosphere of the scene.  This boat is placed in the painting’s foreground, and the mast and sail are leaning to the side, indicating the wild nature of the sea.  The boat portrays sailors working hard to steady their craft in the choppy waters.  In the background we find to larger ships, their masts are upright, suggesting that the crew on these ships is struggling less to maneuver their vessels through the rough water.  The gray tonal palette of our picture is typical for Mulier and, more generally, the Dutch realist school of marine painting.  The meticulous detail for which Mulier was renowned is fully evident in our piece.  Thus, Mulier renders our composition with charming features such as small seagulls hovering just above the water surface.