Dirk Langendijk artwork • watercolour • drawing • for sale The crossing of the frozen river Waal by Napoleon's army in 1795

The draftsman, painter and etcher Dirk Langendijk was born in 1748 in Rotterdam. He mainly drew (naval) battles and military scenes from the time of the patriots and the Napoleonic campaign in the Netherlands (from 1892) that ended in the Batavian Republic. He was a pupel of the wallpaper and carriage painter Dirck Anthonie Bisschop, but specialized in the military genre at an early age. The artist was particularly skilled at painting and drawing large groups, especially soldiers, officers and horses. This earned him admiration from contemporaries. Often his work was copied by other artists, such as J.A. Bemme, who was a pupil of Langendijk. In 1796, the painter designed the emblem for the flag of the navy of the Batavian Republic.