Hendrik Willem Mesdag

Bought by the grandfather of the present owner prior to 1913; thence by descent

Johan Poort, Hendrik Willem Mesdag 1831-1915: Schetsboek 3, 1995, Wassenaar, n.p., illustrated in black and white

Johan Poort, Hendrik Willem Mesdag 1831-1915. Oeuvrecatalogus in beeld, 2001, Wassenaar, p. 48, no. 2022.07, pl. 755, illustrated in black and white

Hendrik Willem Mesdag is renowned for depicting the vicissitudes of life at sea in all weathers. Born into a Groningen family, Mesdag was initially destined for a career as a banker like his father. Instead an inheritance gave him financial independence and, at the age of 35, painting became Mesdag's focus. Turning to his second cousin Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema for advice, Mesdag took lessons with Willem Roelofs in Brussels, the first Dutch artist regularly to visit the artists' colony at Barbizon. Breaking with the minutely detailed seascapes of the Romantic School, Mesdag's plein air realism broke new ground in Dutch art.

In May 1869 Mesdag moved to The Hague, making the beach at nearby Scheveningen his subject. International success soon followed, as he received a gold medal at the Paris Salon of 1870 for Breakers in the North Sea (Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam). In 1881 Mesdag painted his 120m-long panoramic view from the Seinpostduin ('Signal box dune') in Scheveningen in four months, assisted by various artists including George Hendrik Breitner (lot 33), Bernardus Johannes Blommers, Théophile de Bock, and his wife Berthe. The panorama remains visible to the public on the Zeestraat in The Hague, the same location where it was painted.

Return of the fishing fleet is recorded in the catalogue raisonné with only a black and white image, whereabouts unknown. Having been in the same family collection for over one hundred years - this is an important and exciting re-discovery.