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Lot Essay
At an early stage in his career Johan Barthold Jongkind already showed a lot of promise. With Andreas Schelfhout (1787-1870) as his tutor at the Tekenacademie in The Hague, Jongkind learned to appreciate painting landscapes to the fullest. Schelfhout was himself already a well renowned painter of Dutch romantic landscapes and he often took his students into the outdoors to teach. However his most important contribution to Jongkind’s career was the introduction to the French marine painter Eugene Isabey (1803-1886). Isabey asked Jongkind to work in his studio and it was in France where he could really develop his pre-impressionistic style.
The Impressionists' debt to Jongkind was readily acknowledged. Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) exclaimed: 'Landscape without Jongkind would have a totally different aspect' (see: Jongkind and the Pre-Impressionists: Painters of the Ecole Saint-Simon, exh. cat., Sterling and Francine Clark Institute, Williamstown, 1977, p. 7) and Eduard Manet (1832-1883) thought of him as 'the father of the School of Landscapists' (see: Ibid., p. 7). However, it is Claude Monet (1840-1926) who paid his mentor the greatest tribute in 1890 when he spoke in reverence of his first encounter with Jongkind: ‘ (…) His painting was too new and in far too artistic a strain to be then, in 1862, appreciated at its true worth. Neither was there ever anyone so modest and retiring. He was a simple good-hearted man...and timid. That day he was very talkative. He asked to see my sketches, invited me to come and work with him, explained to me the why and the wherefore of his manner and thereby completed the teachings that I had already received from Boudin. From that time on he was my real master, and it was to him that I owed the final education of my eye’ (quoted in: ‘The Artist as a Young Man’, in: Art News Annual, Vol. XXVI, 1957, p. 198; translated from Thiébault-Sisson, 'Claude Monet, an Interview’, in: Le Temps, 27 November 1900).
It is no surprise that Jongkind's oeuvre is dominated by water. The artist grew up around Maassluis and its many waterways and boats. The damp climate of the Low Countries inspired Jongkind. The ever-changing clouds and fog covered landscape, the movement of ships and the changing of the seasons were a constant challenge and source of inspiration. The present lot depicts the harbour of Dordrecht. Jongkind called this city the most beautiful city in the Netherlands and advised his French colleagues to visit this beloved town. The painting can be seen as a tribute to Dordrecht. The apparent dark ships on the left hand side guide our view to the Grote Kerk in centre of the canvas. The whole scene bathes in a clear light where the colour of the sky and the water are almost interchangeable. In colour, texture and atmosphere it exudes every element of the artist's creative hand.
The purchaser of the present lot is kindly requested to give the work on loan for the exhibition Jongkind en de impressionisten in the Dordrechts Museum, Dordrecht, from 29 October 2017-28 May 2018.
The Impressionists' debt to Jongkind was readily acknowledged. Camille Pissarro (1830-1903) exclaimed: 'Landscape without Jongkind would have a totally different aspect' (see: Jongkind and the Pre-Impressionists: Painters of the Ecole Saint-Simon, exh. cat., Sterling and Francine Clark Institute, Williamstown, 1977, p. 7) and Eduard Manet (1832-1883) thought of him as 'the father of the School of Landscapists' (see: Ibid., p. 7). However, it is Claude Monet (1840-1926) who paid his mentor the greatest tribute in 1890 when he spoke in reverence of his first encounter with Jongkind: ‘ (…) His painting was too new and in far too artistic a strain to be then, in 1862, appreciated at its true worth. Neither was there ever anyone so modest and retiring. He was a simple good-hearted man...and timid. That day he was very talkative. He asked to see my sketches, invited me to come and work with him, explained to me the why and the wherefore of his manner and thereby completed the teachings that I had already received from Boudin. From that time on he was my real master, and it was to him that I owed the final education of my eye’ (quoted in: ‘The Artist as a Young Man’, in: Art News Annual, Vol. XXVI, 1957, p. 198; translated from Thiébault-Sisson, 'Claude Monet, an Interview’, in: Le Temps, 27 November 1900).
It is no surprise that Jongkind's oeuvre is dominated by water. The artist grew up around Maassluis and its many waterways and boats. The damp climate of the Low Countries inspired Jongkind. The ever-changing clouds and fog covered landscape, the movement of ships and the changing of the seasons were a constant challenge and source of inspiration. The present lot depicts the harbour of Dordrecht. Jongkind called this city the most beautiful city in the Netherlands and advised his French colleagues to visit this beloved town. The painting can be seen as a tribute to Dordrecht. The apparent dark ships on the left hand side guide our view to the Grote Kerk in centre of the canvas. The whole scene bathes in a clear light where the colour of the sky and the water are almost interchangeable. In colour, texture and atmosphere it exudes every element of the artist's creative hand.
The purchaser of the present lot is kindly requested to give the work on loan for the exhibition Jongkind en de impressionisten in the Dordrechts Museum, Dordrecht, from 29 October 2017-28 May 2018.