Oil / Canvas: 43 x 80 cm
Painted around 1910–1915, Dunes near Zoutelande presents a luminous panoramic view of the Zeeland coast. From a high vantage point, the eye sweeps across pale dunes and past the village towards the blue-green sea. The tower on the horizon may be the Hoge Licht lighthouse at Westkapelle. Hart Nibbrig applied short, lively strokes of green, yellow, violet, blue and pink, leaving areas of the pale ground exposed to heighten the hazy atmosphere. The almost horizontal bands of land, sea and sky create a striking sense of space. At once topographical and poetic, the painting belongs to the sparkling coastal landscapes of the artist's final years.
Ferdinand Hart Nibbrig was born in Amsterdam on 5 April 1866. He studied at the Amsterdam National Academy from 1883 to 1888, and finished his schooling in Paris at Ecole Julien and the Cormon studio. There he was influenced by the work of Vincent van Gogh and Georges Seurat, although he would only use these influences in his work later on. After returning to the Netherlands, in his initial years as an artist, Hart Nibbrig mainly worked in the impressionist style of the Amsterdam School of Breitner and Isaac Israels. When he moved to Laren, his style gradually became more realistic, but increasingly he also painted pointillistic landscapes. Whether depicting people or landscapes, Hart Nibbrig continually strove to penetrate the essence of what he perceived. People in their environment, with special attention for labourers, weavers and farming types, were depicted realistically, and approached psychologically and in a flat style. His aim was to reveal their characters. When painting landscapes he strived to portray the light in all its manifestations. His work is characterized by an abundance of light and bright colours. Except in the artist’s village of Laren, Nibbrig worked and lived for shorter or longer spells in Rhenen, in Vlieland, in South Limburg and in Zoutelande in Zeeland. He also took trips to North Africa and Germany. On 12 October 1915 Hart Nibbrig died in Laren at the age of fifty-two. Although his career as a painter ended far too early, his artistic heritage has remained important. Hart Nibbrich was one of the first artists to introduce luminism in the Netherlands. A large collection of his work can be seen in the Singer Museum in Laren, not far from the villa and atelier where much of his best work was made.