Seascape with Six Figures in the Foreground

Seascape with Six Figures in the Foreground

Nicolaas Aartman

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Three sailing vessels are gliding along the water on a tranquil afternoon. On the river banks in the foreground fishermen are tending their catch. This small-scale drawing is a typical example of the work of the eighteenth century Dutch draftsman Nicolaes Aartman, who specialized primarily in the depiction of landscapes and townscapes. Many of Aartman’s designs were intended as book illustrations. However, judging by its delicate coloring, it is likely that this specific sheet was intended for the album of a drawings collector or ‘liefhebber’. It may have been paired with the highly resembling Seascape with Seven Figures and a Dog, also in the Museum’s collection (1975.121.1).

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Seascape with Six Figures in the ForegroundSeascape with Six Figures in the ForegroundSeascape with Six Figures in the ForegroundSeascape with Six Figures in the ForegroundSeascape with Six Figures in the Foreground

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.