H.W. (HENDRIK WILLEM) MESDAG 1831 Groningen - 1915 The Hague Sunset at Calm Sea
Oil / Canvas: 41,5 x 50 cm
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Details
In clear, dominant tones of white, grey and blue, with accents of yellow, ochre, vermilion and black, Mesdag painted this almost stilled scene of moored bomschuiten before the beach at Scheveningen. The painting is not dated. With Mesdag, it is nearly impossible to attribute undated paintings to a specific period. His painting style and subjects underwent virtually no significant changes from the mid-1870s until his death in 1915, and the now-published oeuvre catalogue and supplement make clear in how many variations Mesdag depicted the same themes. Based on the dated paintings, one might suggest the painting could possibly have been painted in the late 1870s, but it is quite possible that it was only created in the second half of the 1890s or even after 1904.
In 1904, the opening of the harbour at Scheveningen was a celebratory event. After the storm of 1894, in which the entire fishing fleet was thrown onto the beach and partially destroyed, the calls for a harbour grew ever louder. In 1904, the moment finally arrived. The fishermen would have celebrated this day exuberantly, as the toil of bringing the bomschuiten and pinken onto the beach had come to an end. Mesdag was probably not in a jubilant mood; painting, watercolouring and drawing Scheveningen bomschuiten en plein air directly before and on the beach was over for good, and henceforth he would have to rely on earlier studies and memories. Mesdag found this difficult. In an interview from 1906 he grumbled: "But the business at Scheveningen has become much less for it, now with that fishing harbour. All those innovations, what are they for? (_) What I made there – some years ago or so, you'll never see that again! That's finished, Scheveningen is done for. And if I didn't still know it all from before, from those sketches – truly then it would be over."
The construction of the harbour also meant that other types of fishing vessels (with keels) became possible. The flat-bottomed boats gradually disappeared from the harbour scene. It is symbolic that in the same year Mesdag died, the last bomschuit was removed from the Scheveningen register.
Width: 50 cm
Over H.W. (HENDRIK WILLEM) MESDAG
Mesdag is one of the most famous Dutch 19th century painters. His Impressionistic style follows the rules of the Hague School, of which he was one the founding fathers. He was born into a well-to-do family in Groningen, in the north of Holland. Destined to follow into his father’s footsteps as a banker his professional career as an artist started relatively late. It was only after his father died that he with his wife Sientje van Houten, also an artist, moved via Brussels to The Hague to become not only a prominent artist in the newly formed the Hague School but also a great collector of contemporary (19th century) art. As a professional painter he settle in a studio in Scheveningen, overlooking the North Sea. He had found his subject! In endless variation he would paint the ever changing sea and skies, the fishing vessels, the hard labour of pulling the ships every night on the beach. When finally a harbour was built in 1904 to keep the ships safe from storms, Mesdag was convinced that it was his task in life to keep the memory alive of "how it used to be" before. That’s why we seldom see a steam ship or the new harbour painted by him. Mesdag was a prominent figure in society, popular and respected. A prolific painter, his works are to be found in many museums and private collections around the world. A superbly Dutch rendering of sea and sky appealing universally. Mesdag's collection of his contemporaries together with some of his own form the basis of a museum in The Hague. The best known museum in The Hague is dedicated to the Panorama Mesdag, a unique 360 degrees representation of 19th century Scheveningen. It is one of the very few surviving painted panorama's in Europe to be seen in a purpose built round dome. It attracts many thousand visitors a year.
Mesdag's fascination for the sea started in 1868 when he and his wife Sientje Mesdag-van Houten made their annual visit to their native city Groningen, and visited the Island of Norderney where Mesdag made his first sea studies. His international career began with the gold medal he received at the Salon Paris in 1870 for the painting Les Brisants de la Mer du Nord. Stimulated by his success in Paris and his love for the sea, Mesdag focused on the North Sea and the fishermen there. He purchased a room at the 'Villa Elba' and later at Hotel Rauch located at the Scheveningen beach and considered himself a realistic seascape painter. From his room he could observe the sea in all weathers and captured his impressions of the Dutch North sea and all the activities on the Scheveningen beach under all circumstances. A period of great recognition began. Until his death in 1915, Mesdag visited the sea frequently to seek inspiration for his paintings. However, when the character of the fishing village changed into a modern beach-resort around the turn of the century, he would use his old sketches as the basis for his pictures. Mesdag painted the present lot in 1890, at the zenith of his career, and his commitment to depicting the theme of seashore scenes was well established in the national and international art world. It was not only the critics of the Salon that praised the sincerity of his works and their truthful rendering of reality, today Mesdag is also much admired for these abilities.
