Hendrik Willem Mesdag Dutch, 1831-1915

Hendrik Willem Mesdag, born into a wealthy Groningen family, was destined to become a banker. After an inheritance had rendered him financially independent, he abandoned his secure position at the bank and followed his artistic ambitions. He was thirty-five when he served his apprenticeship with the Dutch landscapist Willem Roelofs, adopting his broad, distinctive style of painting. Roelofs also introduced him to the plein-air painting of the Barbizon School, which influenced Mesdag heavily.

In the summer of 1868 Mesdag visited the Island of Norderney. It  would become a turning point in his career. Fascinated by the many faces of the sea, Mesdag resolved to become a painter of seascapes. His unbiased depiction of the sea, straight from nature, was a completely new phenomenon in Dutch painting. It struck contemporary viewers. The call for truthfulness that Mesdag's work embodied was welcomed by many. 

After scoring his first success at the Paris salon in 1870, Mesdag's seacsapes and beachscenes gained wide recognition. His marines were in great demand and he soon became one of the best selling artists of his day. The present lot depicts the return of the fishing fleet on Scheveningen beach, a subject the artist tackled more than once. Mesdag frequently stayed in Scheveningen, studying the fisherman's activities under different wheather conditions. 

The present lot shows a beautifully detailed, atmospheric scene of anchored fishing boats under a peaceful, early evening sky. In stressing aspects like mood, tone and subdued tonalities, it is a great example of Hague School at its very best.