Nicolaas Baurartist • painterHarlingen 1767-1820

The Harlingen painter Nicolaas Baur was the son of Henricus Antonius Baur who settled in Harlingen from Germany and became known as an art dealer and portrait painter. Nicolaas received his first painting lessons from his father. He then worked as a wallpaper painter, but at the age of 17 he started painting Harlingen cityscapes and seascapes with ships, often in rough weather. His talent as a marine painter was quickly noticed and his success was ultimately crowned when King Louis Napoleon purchased one of his works for the national collection at an exhibition of Living Masters in 1808. Baur often painted very detailed and topographically recognizable scenes, such as the Skating Competition for women on the Stadsgracht of Leeuwarden in 1809 and the warship Queen Charlotte in the port of Algiers, 1818, both in the possession of the Rijksmuseum.