Notes

Nicolaas Baur was the eldest child of the German portraitist and art dealer
Henricus Antonius Baur (1736-1820) who had settled in Harlingen. Initially
Nicolaas trained with his father, painting mostly city views and landscapes as well
as a number of historical events. After training at the academies of both
Amsterdam and Brussels and after adding marine subjects to his repertoire, his
fame grew. In 1808, when Louis Napoleon was unable to decide on a suitable
candidate to be awarded the prize for sculpture at the Exhibition of Living
Masters, the honor was given instead to a seascape by Baur. National fame was
thus achieved and the time between 1810-1818 is considered his golden period. In
the wake of the 1808 award, the majority of Baur’s output were seascapes, and
ultimately, he came to be regarded as one of the best marine painters of his time.