Zware storm en overstroming bij Halfweg

About this artwork

Voorstudie voor ets door S. Fokke (FM4303)

Art Historical Context

This delicate pen drawing by Simon Fokke captures a dramatic moment of natural disaster: a fierce storm and flooding near Halfweg in the Netherlands on November 15, 1775. Fokke, an 18th-century Dutchman and etcher, created the work as a preparatory study for a print, allowing him to refine the composition before committing it to copperplate. The modest scale—roughly the size of a postcard—belies the scene’s intensity, with swirling lines suggesting wind-lashed waters and battered structures. Floods were a recurring threat in the Dutch lowlands, and Fokke’s image reflects both a specific weath...

About the Artist

Simon Fokke · 1712–1784

Comment on works: Draugstman; Portrait