Lot Essay
Born in 1824 into a middle-class family, Hendrik Johannes Weissenbruch is considered one of the most outstanding and esteemed artist of the Hague School. Weissenbruch's father Johannes was an amateur painter and art collector while one of his brothers, Frederik Johan, his uncle Daniel and his nephew Isaac all became engravers. His cousin Jan Weissenbruch (1822-1880) was a respected painter of Dutch townviews. Weissenbruch expressed his talent to capture his immediate environment at a young age with drawings of the desolate duneland of the Dekkersduin. A popular spot near his home in the Hague, where artists such as Julius van de Sande Bakhuyzen (1835-1925) and Johannes Destree (1827-1888) also used to work in their youth. Before going on to study at the Hague Academy under the tutelage of Bart van Hove in 1843, Hendrik Johannes Weissenbruch took drawing lessons from J.J. Löw and most probably was also tutored by the renowned romantic landscape painter Andreas Schelfhout. It is in Weissenbruch's early panoramic views that the influence of Schelfhout is especially evident.
Although Weissenbruch's eventual fame would be based on his spontaneous and impressionist rendering of the ever changing climatic atmosphere of the Nieuwkoop and Noorden area, the artist's first paintings were executed with detailed precision and reveal the influence of amongst others van Ruisdael, Potter and Vermeer whom he copied in the Mauritshuis, The Hague.
Compared to other Hague School artists such as H.W. Mesdag and A. Mauve, Weissenbruch's public appreciation came relatively late in his life with the press only taking notice of him in 1866 at the age of forty-two. It was the artist's use of crude colours and his striking broad brushstroke that caught their eye : "een eigenaardig karakter en sterk effect" (Kunstkronijk 1866, p.62). Despite these initial statements, Weissenbruch's idiosyncratic choice of colour and his emphasis on the sky would eventually lead to his fame. Like the artist himself declared : "Lucht en licht zijn de groote toovenaars" (Inleiding tot de catalogus van de tentoonstelling bij Frans Buffa en Zonen, Amsterdam 1899).
In 1866 Weissenbruch became a member of the Société Belge des Aquarellistes in Brussels, where his work was exhibited in 1867. During the following years Weissenbruch worked in the Hague and its surroundings, painting the beach of Scheveningen and various polder landscapes. On the advice of the artdealer Sala, Weissenbruch travelled to Nieuwkoop and Noorden in 1875, finding a new source of inspiration in the extensive open landscape of this area. Weissenbruch began to sell paintings more regularly around this time, finally achieving general recognition for his artistic achievements with an exhibition at the artdealer Frans Buffa en Zonen, Amsterdam in 1899. The exhibition was a financial success.
A year later Weissenbruch travelled to Barbizon in the company of Victor Bauffe and Mrs Slagmulder, the wife of the owner and director of Frans Buffa. A journey that Weissenbruch most probably made in honour of the Barbizon School painters and of Corot and Daubigny in particular. During his life Weissenbruch was inspired by the French painter's explicit emphasis on natural phenomena and the untraditional and unidealized style in which they captured their impressions. Captivated by the paintings in H.W. Mesdag's collection and those exhibited at artdealers such as H.G. Tersteeg and Van Wisselingh, Weissenbruch finally chose to visit the Forest of Fontainbleau and its surroundings himself. Just like the first generation of the Hague School painters, Joseph Israel, Willem Roelofs, Jacob Maris had done before him in respectively 1853, 1851 and 1864. Provided with a sketch-book and painter's equipment, the seventy-six year old artist roamed the small village of Barbizon, paying tribute to those painters whose new concept of painting 'en plein-air' and realistic influenced him and his Hague School contemporaries. The present lot shows Mrs Slagmulder sitting in Millet's house in front of an open window. Weissenbruch also painted the exterior of Millet's house during this trip, presenting it to Mrs Slagmulder as a reminder of their journey together, "à Madame Slagmulder maison J.F. Millet, Barbizon, J.H. Weissenbruch". The portrait of Mrs Slagmulder illustrates the ease with which Weissenbruch still captured impressions and constitues an interesting testimony to Weissenbruch's pilgrimage to Barbizon.
See colour illustration
Although Weissenbruch's eventual fame would be based on his spontaneous and impressionist rendering of the ever changing climatic atmosphere of the Nieuwkoop and Noorden area, the artist's first paintings were executed with detailed precision and reveal the influence of amongst others van Ruisdael, Potter and Vermeer whom he copied in the Mauritshuis, The Hague.
Compared to other Hague School artists such as H.W. Mesdag and A. Mauve, Weissenbruch's public appreciation came relatively late in his life with the press only taking notice of him in 1866 at the age of forty-two. It was the artist's use of crude colours and his striking broad brushstroke that caught their eye : "een eigenaardig karakter en sterk effect" (Kunstkronijk 1866, p.62). Despite these initial statements, Weissenbruch's idiosyncratic choice of colour and his emphasis on the sky would eventually lead to his fame. Like the artist himself declared : "Lucht en licht zijn de groote toovenaars" (Inleiding tot de catalogus van de tentoonstelling bij Frans Buffa en Zonen, Amsterdam 1899).
In 1866 Weissenbruch became a member of the Société Belge des Aquarellistes in Brussels, where his work was exhibited in 1867. During the following years Weissenbruch worked in the Hague and its surroundings, painting the beach of Scheveningen and various polder landscapes. On the advice of the artdealer Sala, Weissenbruch travelled to Nieuwkoop and Noorden in 1875, finding a new source of inspiration in the extensive open landscape of this area. Weissenbruch began to sell paintings more regularly around this time, finally achieving general recognition for his artistic achievements with an exhibition at the artdealer Frans Buffa en Zonen, Amsterdam in 1899. The exhibition was a financial success.
A year later Weissenbruch travelled to Barbizon in the company of Victor Bauffe and Mrs Slagmulder, the wife of the owner and director of Frans Buffa. A journey that Weissenbruch most probably made in honour of the Barbizon School painters and of Corot and Daubigny in particular. During his life Weissenbruch was inspired by the French painter's explicit emphasis on natural phenomena and the untraditional and unidealized style in which they captured their impressions. Captivated by the paintings in H.W. Mesdag's collection and those exhibited at artdealers such as H.G. Tersteeg and Van Wisselingh, Weissenbruch finally chose to visit the Forest of Fontainbleau and its surroundings himself. Just like the first generation of the Hague School painters, Joseph Israel, Willem Roelofs, Jacob Maris had done before him in respectively 1853, 1851 and 1864. Provided with a sketch-book and painter's equipment, the seventy-six year old artist roamed the small village of Barbizon, paying tribute to those painters whose new concept of painting 'en plein-air' and realistic influenced him and his Hague School contemporaries. The present lot shows Mrs Slagmulder sitting in Millet's house in front of an open window. Weissenbruch also painted the exterior of Millet's house during this trip, presenting it to Mrs Slagmulder as a reminder of their journey together, "à Madame Slagmulder maison J.F. Millet, Barbizon, J.H. Weissenbruch". The portrait of Mrs Slagmulder illustrates the ease with which Weissenbruch still captured impressions and constitues an interesting testimony to Weissenbruch's pilgrimage to Barbizon.
See colour illustration