J.W. (JAN WILLEM) VAN BORSELEN


Artists

Biography

J.W. (JAN WILLEM) VAN BORSELEN
1825 Gouda - 1892 Den Haag

Landscape painting has a long tradition in the Low Countries. Van Borselen, known for his fresh and clear views of meadows and polders, learned this craft from none other than Andreas Schelfhout. Van Borselen's work marked the transition from the Romantic style to the looser approach like the Hague School. He did not belong to the Hague School although his later work contained clear elements of it. Like no other he could capture the wind through reeds and trees in his paintings: the title of the 2002 retrospective exhibition at the Stadsmuseum Woerden 'Wind and Willows'. He was a very successful artist, board member of Pulchri and one of the founders of the Royal Society of Watercolorists. He enjoyed the friendship of King Willem III. His work is included in the collections of the Museum Boymans van Beuningen in Rotterdam and the Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem. The Teylers Museum in Haarlem owns a number of watercolors.