Early Life and Training Abraham Hulk Senior, a towering figure in Anglo-Dutch marine painting, was born on May 1, 1813, in London—a son of Hendrik Hulk, a prosperous textile merchant, and Mary Burroughs. His artistic journey began not with formal instruction but with an innate fascination for capturing the majesty of the sea, nurtured by his family’s connections to maritime trade. Initially apprenticed to Jean Augustin Daiwaille (1786–1850), a celebrated portraitist at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam—a prestigious institution that championed artistic excellence—Hulk honed his skills in captur…