View of Egmond aan zee, seen from the South.

The richly decorated beach scene with the view of Egmond aan zee, the old church tower, figures and fishermen’s pinks on the beach is considered one of Beerstraten’s best works.

Egmond aan Zee was an old and considerable sea village; in 1036 Lord Walger of Egmond is mentioned as its founder. In 1632, the village had as many as 213 houses! In our painting, to the right behind the first row of dunes, amidst the low houses, we see the tall tower of the medieval church crowned with an iron peak. The tower is long gone; the advancing sea washed away larger and larger pieces of dune – even then! – and the tower collapsed in 1741. Beerstraaten still saw the church in its full glory and made a drawing of it which served as an example for the painting in our collection that may be counted among his best work.

The Beerstraten family

This Amsterdam family of painters depicted seascapes, Dutch and Mediterranean harbour scenes, a few sea battles and winter scenes. Both Jan (father) and Abraham (son) had a natural talent for the architectural and enjoyde mixing real and imaginairy buildings in their pictures. Ships are well drawn and technically accurate.

Frayed flags are a recognisable characteristic of Beerstraten paintings. There is little to distinguish between the styles of the various paintings signed by the Beerstratens, though there may have been a tendency for Abraham to use more grey and a slightly colder palette than Jan.  

Museums: including Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum; Berlin, Staatliche Museen Dresden; Gemäldegalerie; Hamburg, Hamburger Kunsthalle; Greenwich, National Maritime Museum; Paris, Musee du Louvre; Stockholm, National Museum