Evert Mollartist • painter • watercolourist • draughtsmanVoorburg 1878-1955 Den Haag

Evert Moll is best known for his depictions of the Rotterdam port and shipping on the Nieuwe Maas that he painted in the 1920s and 1930s. Starting around 1900 as a follower of the Hague School, Evert Moll soon shifted his field of work to the quays and bridges of the Maasstad. The dynamics of the port authority were also a source of inspiration for the painter. He also excelled in many other genres. He painted cityscapes, landscapes and colorful, bold flower still lifes. His work was in great demand in the United States and Canada, where he worked on behalf of art dealers.

Evert Moll was born in Voorburg and has lived almost his entire life in the South Holland landscape between The Hague and Rotterdam. As a self-taught artist, he regularly visits Willem Roelofs' home, who provides him with advice, and he becomes friends with his son Albert. Moll also receives advice from the well-known Hague scholar Willem Maris. In the Roelofs house there is a coming and going of artists who set the tone for the art climate at the beginning of the twentieth century. Although this has a major influence on the way of working of the impressionist Moll, it does not limit the development of his style of work. Initially he uses a sober colour palette and paints his paintings in a broad brushstroke. As he gets older this changes into a more varied use of colour and a more detailed paint touch. But Moll would never become a sky stormer with a strong urge for innovation.

Moll loved painting outdoors, especially near water. He often sits on the waterfront of the Rotterdam harbour, which he would eventually capture in more than a thousand paintings. He then works on the size of 19 x 31 cm, the dimensions of his painting box, after which these sketches often serve as examples for the larger paintings he makes in his studio. The ins and outs of a port, the hustle and bustle of enormous seagoing vessels and the advancing technology fascinate him immensely. But Moll also spends just as much time and attention on painting landscapes and cityscapes, which he always makes with a view of the water or seen from the water. Together with the colourful flower still lifes, they form the other half of his entire oeuvre.