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Lot Essay
The present lot depicts several Bomschuiten on the beach of Scheveningen in winter. The composition is dominated by the hull of a typical Bomschuit at the left of the composition. At the horizon various fishing vessels are being prepared for a day at sea. Some fishermen are busy to string up their horses to pull the heavy vessels into the cold wintery sea. The beach is covered in a white haze of snow and the painting breathes a cool atmosphere with its white and grey hues. Mesdag studied nature precisely and observed the boats and the fishermen he saw on his daily visits to Scheveningen in all-weather circumstances. The present lot is an overwhelming impression of the grey toned Dutch coast he admired so much.
Born in Groningen, Hendrik Willem Mesdag started his artistic career in Oosterbeek, a small town on the Veluwe, also called the 'Dutch Barbizon'. In the summer of 1866 he had met the landscape painter Gerard Bilders (1838-1865) who inspired him to study after nature. A few months later he moved to Brussels where he was taught by Willem Roelofs (1822-1897). At that time Paul Gabriel (1828-1903) and Mesdag's cousin Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912) were also living in Brussels and were a great inspiration for Mesdag. In 1868 he would exhibited for the first time at the Societé Libre des Beaux-Arts, where artists could exhibit without being restricted to the rules of the Academy of Brussels.
In that same year Mesdag discovered the subject that would inspire him for the rest of his life: the sea. In the summer of 1866 he visited the island Norderney and started to make sketches of the North Sea. To capture the essence of the sea and depict it in its true sense however, he felt he had to be able to see it every day and live close to it. Therefore he decided to move to The Hague. Here he built a house on the Laan van Meerdervoort, where the current Museum Mesdag is situated. In order to be closer to the sea, he purchased a room at the Villa Elba and later at Hotel Rauch, located at the Scheveningen beach. Until his death in 1915, Mesdag visited the sea frequently to seek inspiration for his paintings. From his room he could observe the sea in every weather condition.
Mesdag's breakthrough came with the exposition at the Salon in Paris in 1870 where he won the Golden Medal for his painting Les Brisants de la Mer du Nord (now in the collection of the Van Gogh Museum). This painting hung next to Courbet's La Vague and Courbet's influence on Mesdag is noticeable. This recognition confirmed his choice to be a painter of seascapes. From 1870 he exhibited one or two works annually at the Salon during forty years. Art critics called Mesdag one of the greatest painters of The Hague School and in France he was being called 'le poète de la Mer du Nord' for his romantic view on the North Sea.
A few years later, in the winter of 1874 Mesdag painted the present work. Only a few seascapes in winter are known by his hand. A truthful rendering of reality and sincerity can be seen in Mesdag's seascapes, whether he painted the North Sea in stormy weather or calm and peaceful, his paintings always make a strong impression on the spectator. The present lot is a beautiful example of Mesdag's work in which he depicts the interesting contrast between the cold grey Dutch sky and the light on the bright white beach.
Born in Groningen, Hendrik Willem Mesdag started his artistic career in Oosterbeek, a small town on the Veluwe, also called the 'Dutch Barbizon'. In the summer of 1866 he had met the landscape painter Gerard Bilders (1838-1865) who inspired him to study after nature. A few months later he moved to Brussels where he was taught by Willem Roelofs (1822-1897). At that time Paul Gabriel (1828-1903) and Mesdag's cousin Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912) were also living in Brussels and were a great inspiration for Mesdag. In 1868 he would exhibited for the first time at the Societé Libre des Beaux-Arts, where artists could exhibit without being restricted to the rules of the Academy of Brussels.
In that same year Mesdag discovered the subject that would inspire him for the rest of his life: the sea. In the summer of 1866 he visited the island Norderney and started to make sketches of the North Sea. To capture the essence of the sea and depict it in its true sense however, he felt he had to be able to see it every day and live close to it. Therefore he decided to move to The Hague. Here he built a house on the Laan van Meerdervoort, where the current Museum Mesdag is situated. In order to be closer to the sea, he purchased a room at the Villa Elba and later at Hotel Rauch, located at the Scheveningen beach. Until his death in 1915, Mesdag visited the sea frequently to seek inspiration for his paintings. From his room he could observe the sea in every weather condition.
Mesdag's breakthrough came with the exposition at the Salon in Paris in 1870 where he won the Golden Medal for his painting Les Brisants de la Mer du Nord (now in the collection of the Van Gogh Museum). This painting hung next to Courbet's La Vague and Courbet's influence on Mesdag is noticeable. This recognition confirmed his choice to be a painter of seascapes. From 1870 he exhibited one or two works annually at the Salon during forty years. Art critics called Mesdag one of the greatest painters of The Hague School and in France he was being called 'le poète de la Mer du Nord' for his romantic view on the North Sea.
A few years later, in the winter of 1874 Mesdag painted the present work. Only a few seascapes in winter are known by his hand. A truthful rendering of reality and sincerity can be seen in Mesdag's seascapes, whether he painted the North Sea in stormy weather or calm and peaceful, his paintings always make a strong impression on the spectator. The present lot is a beautiful example of Mesdag's work in which he depicts the interesting contrast between the cold grey Dutch sky and the light on the bright white beach.