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Lot Essay
As one of the most important members of The Hague School landscape painters, Mesdag differed to his colleagues in choosing only the sea as the subject matter for his works. This fascination began in 1868 when Mesdag and his wife Sientje made their annual visit to their native city Groningen, and they visited the Island of Norderney where he made his first sea studies. During his stay in Brussels from 1866 until 1869, he came under the influence of his teacher Willem Roelofs, who advised him to paint en plein air. Until his death in 1915 Mesdag visited the sea almost daily to seek inspiration for his paintings. He even rented a room in the fishing village of Scheveningen near The Hague, so he could observe the sea in every weather condition. He kept visiting Scheveningen frequently until late in life, but when the character of the fishing village changed around the turn of the century he mostly used his old sketches as the basis for his pictures.
The present lot is a fine example of Mesdag's work depicting the sea at Scheveningen on a quiet afternoon. This beautifully detailed and atmospheric scene, in which the sea and the sky are infused with a pink and yellow glow, is strikingly rendered. The anchored fishing vessels have just returned and the fishermen are busy finishing their work on board before the Bomschuiten are pulled onto the beach.
The present lot is a fine example of Mesdag's work depicting the sea at Scheveningen on a quiet afternoon. This beautifully detailed and atmospheric scene, in which the sea and the sky are infused with a pink and yellow glow, is strikingly rendered. The anchored fishing vessels have just returned and the fishermen are busy finishing their work on board before the Bomschuiten are pulled onto the beach.