Contact gallery for price		Willem van de Velde, II 1633 Leiden - Greenwich 1707 Merchant Shipping in Rough Seas Oil on canvas 19 7/8 x 24 3/4 in. Willem van de Velde came from one of the greatest seventeenth century family of Dutch masters;  his father, Willem van de Velde I (1611-1693), was a first rate draughtsman of marines whose love of the sea and ships was inherited by his youngest son.  Adriaen van de Velde (1636-1672) was Willem II's older brother who excelled in the pastoral landscape.  Willem II was influenced by his father but especially in the early part of his career, also heavily by his contemporary seascape artists, Simon de Vlieger and Abraham van Beyeren.  His early works are highly finished and carefully crafted and as he matured, his style broadened and he achieved his effects with more economy of brushstrokes; his palette changed from the earlier predominant grey and blues to the warmer browns of his English period.  Willem II was also a draughtsman throughout his career and he continuously executed highly detailed renderings of ships and scenes as studies for his paintings.  Willem van de Velde II enjoyed enormous success in his lifetime, with royal patronage from King Charles II of England.