Philip Lodewijck Jacob Frederik Sadée (Dutch, 1837-1904)
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Philip Lodewijck Jacob Frederik Sadée (Dutch, 1837-1904)

The arrival of the fleet: fisher-folk on the beach

Details
Philip Lodewijck Jacob Frederik Sadée (Dutch, 1837-1904)
The arrival of the fleet: fisher-folk on the beach
signed and dated 'Ph. Sadée.ft 1900.' (lower right)
oil on canvas
81 x 126 cm.
Provenance
Mr J. Coopmans, Amsterdam.
Anonymous sale, Christie's, London, 5 April 1902, lot 81, as: Waiting for the boats (BP 168,-).
Art Gallery Gérard, Wassenaar, 1980, as: Thuiskomst van de vissersvloot.
Special notice
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Lot Essay

Philip Sadeé was born as the son of a military pharmacist in The Hague. At the age of ten he attended the 'Tekenschool' (School of Drawing) where he was taught by Paul Tetar van Elven (1823-1896). He subsequently became an apprentice to Jacobus van den Berg (1802-1861), who worked in the neo-classical tradition and was strongly opposed to most new developments in the arts. The traditional approach of Van den Bergh included lectures on proportion, anatomy and perspective, all fundamental for a drawing education. In fact, Van den Bergh considered painting to be nothing more then drawing with colour. He encouraged his pupils to remember paintings they had seen and to make copies of these from memory: he would send his students to a museum and would then make them reproduce a painting back in studio. This training served Sadeé well because he would later make drawings en plein air of the fisher folk that he observed on the beach working out his oil paintings once he had returned to his studio.

Van den Berg's orthodox approach to painting had a significant influence on Sadeé, each painting by his hand revealing an exceptionally skilled drawing technique. The present large beach-scene shows this linear manner of painting. Furthermore, the use of blue greyish tones is also a characteristic of Sadeé's work.

This painting, with evenly spread sections of beach, sea and sky, portrays a large number of fisher folk seated and standing by the sea shore. The fisherfolk on the beach are waiting for the fleet to return to the shore to unload the catch of the day. The sailingvessel is dropping its sails and the bow is facing the direction of the wind. The group in the foreground with the gentleman wearing a tophat in the middle (most likely to be the owner of the fleet or the shipowner ('reeder')) is looking at the arriving vessels and draws the attention of the viewer. Via the pointing hand of the shipowner in this prominent group, the viewers eye is drawn to the man on the beach who is waiving to the fisherman on the vessel and giving instructions. This compositional tool makes the painting very lively as there is so much to see, the spectator's attention will remain captured. The manner in which some heads are turned towards the viewer whilst others look out to sea interject a rhythm to the composition. Some faces are partially obscured by hats, hinting at what is beneath. Without a doubt, the present lot can be seen as one of the most impressive paintings by this leading member of the Hague School.

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