NOOMS, Reiner

Dutch painter, draughtsman and etcher. He was probably self-taught as an artist, since much of his early career was spent as a sailor on Dutch merchant vessels, travelling the major Dutch trade routes to Paris, Italy and the North African coast. His works frequently depict marine scenes and coastal views of the ports he visited. Throughout his career he proudly identified himself by the surname 'Zeeman' (Dutch: Seaman), by which title he regularly signed his works. He is now known principally as a painter of ships, whose work falls within the last two stylistic phases of 17th-century Dutch marine painting. Some of his paintings demonstrate the interest in light and atmosphere that typified the mid-century 'tonal' phase and can be seen in the work of Willem van de Velde the Elder. Other works, such as Nooms's views of sea battles and Italian ports, have a romantic character that anticipates the more dramatic style of the late 17th century.