Details

Bernardus Johannes Blommers
Den Haag 1845-1914
The young navigators, oil on canvas 67 x 103,3 cm., signed l.r.
888505/Coll.III cv

Provenance: coll. Andrew T. Reid, Auchterarder, Schotland (mogelijk verworven door overerving van zijn vader James Reid); veiling Christie's, Londen, 27 maart 1942, lotnr. 64; veiling Thomas Love & Sons, Perth, Schotland, 1979; veiling Christie, Manson & Woods Ltd., Amsterdam (in Singer Museum, Laren), 2 april 1979, lotnr. 351 (met afb.); part. bezit Groot-Brittannië.
Literature: 'The Collection of Pictures formed by Andrew T. Reid of Auchterarder', Glasgow 1933, nr. 88 (met afb.); Arend-Jan Sleijster, 'Willy Sluiter en de Kunstvereeniging 'Katwijk' 1908-1910', Katwijk 2008, pag. 57, afb. 51 (in kleur).

Price band: between 100.000 and 500.000 euro

Blommers chose the simple life of the peasants and fishermen of Katwijk aan Zee and Scheveningen as subject matter for his paintings and watercolours. Jozef Israels had a dominant influence on his work. However, while Blommers mainly focused on the happy family lives of these communities, Israels usually emphasised the harsh conditions under which they lived. Blommers’s interiors emanate contentment and quiet joy. His work was immensely popular in his time, especially outside the Netherlands.