Pieter Cornelisz van Soest (born c. 1600–1620, flourished c. 1640–67) was a Dutch

marine art Marine art or maritime art is a form of figurative art (that is, painting, drawing, printmaking and sculpture) that portrays or draws its main Sea in culture, inspiration from the sea. Maritime painting is a genre that depicts ships and the sea� ...

ist, especially prolific in battle-pieces.

Biography

Little is known about him. He was the son of Cornelis Pietersz van Soest,Pieter Cornelis van Soest
at the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

''ECARTICO'' website and in 1642 he became Poorter of Amsterdam where he was recorded until 1667. In April 1643, as a painter living on the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal, he married Marritie Dircx (born ca. 1620 in

Goch Goch (; archaic spelling: Gog) is a town in the Kleve (district), Kleve district of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, close to the border with the Netherlands, south of Kleve and southeast of Nijmegen. History Goch is at least 750 years old: th ...

Jan Abrahamsz Beerstraaten Jan Abrahamsz Beerstraaten or Johannes (Beerstrat or Bierstraten) (bapt. 1 March 1622 in Amsterdam – buried 1 July 1666) was a Dutch painter of marine art, particularly of events of the First Anglo-Dutch War and Dutch-Swedish War. Van Beerstrat ...

was one of his pupils. Among his subjects are the

Battle of the Downs The Battle of the Downs took place on 21 October 1639 (New Style), during the Eighty Years' War. A Spanish fleet, commanded by Admiral Antonio de Oquendo, was decisively defeated by a Dutch force under Lieutenant-Admiral Maarten Tromp. ...

and the

Second Anglo-Dutch War The Second Anglo-Dutch War, began on 4 March 1665, and concluded with the signing of the Treaty of Breda (1667), Treaty of Breda on 31 July 1667. It was one in a series of Anglo-Dutch Wars, naval wars between Kingdom of England, England and the D ...

, particularly the

Raid on the Medway The Raid on the Medway, during the Second Anglo-Dutch War in June 1667, was a successful attack conducted by the Dutch navy on English warships laid up in the fleet anchorages off Chatham Dockyard and Gillingham in the county of Kent. At th ...

. Van Soest also depicted the ships ''Comet Star'' and ''Eendracht''. His paintings usually have a panoramic view of the battles. Van Soest rendered ships with delicate brushstrokes, while a light

impasto Impasto is a technique used in painting, where paint is laid on an area of the surface thickly, usually thick enough that the brush or painting-knife strokes are visible. Paint can also be mixed right on the canvas. When dry, impasto provides tex ...

is a feature of his skies.Biography of Pieter Cornelisz van Soest
National Maritime Museum

Notes

Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown Painters from Amsterdam Dutch Golden Age painters Dutch male painters Dutch marine artists Year of birth uncertain {{Netherlands-painter-stub