BACKHUYSEN, or BAKHUISEN,

See also:

• LUDOLF (or LEUTHOLF), HIOB (1624-1704)

LUDOLF (1631-1708)  , Dutch painter, was born at Emden, in Hanover . He was brought up as a merchant at Amsterdam, but early discovered so strong a genius for painting that he relinquished business and devoted himself to art . He studied first under Allart van Everdingen and then under Hendrik Dubbels, two eminent masters of the time, and soon became celebrated for his sea-pieces . He was an ardent student of nature, and frequently exposed himself on the sea in an open boat in order to study the effects of tempests . His compositions, which are very numerous, are nearly all variations of one subject, and in a style peculiarly his own, marked by intense realism or faithful imitation of nature . In his later years Backhuysen employed his time in etching and calligraphy . He died in Amsterdam on the 17th of November 1708 .