Sluit menu
Sluit menu
Johan Scherrewitz is considered to be part of the afterlife of the Hague School. Born in Amsterdam in 1868, he was destined to work in his father's securities business. When his father realized that things would never work out with his son in this profession, he was allowed to start painting and drawing lessons with Geo Poggenbeek and eventually he was given permission to devote himself entirely to artistry. Throughout his life, Scherrewitz would stick to the style of the Hague School. The landscapes he painted are often populated by shepherds with sheep, farmers with cows and fishermen with their barges, carts and horses.
In 1898 Scherrewitz moved to the Gooi. There he started painting open forest landscapes, interspersed with beach views near Katwijk. He loved portraying the pristine life at a time when the industry was advancing. Simple people, painted with much love, who almost seem to identify with nature. Scherrewitz also worked in the Achterhoek, Overijssel, the Veluwezoom, De Lage Vuursche and in the vicinity of the Brabant villages of Heerle and Leende. He traveled to Belgium, Germany and France, but the Dutch landscape always attracted him. He also lived for some time in England where he exhibited at the Royal Academy. Scherrewitz had almost immediate success with his work in England, Scotland and the United States, where work by the Haagse Scholers was still in great demand. His paintings were traded through the London art dealership Wallis & Son. All of Scherrewitz's attention was focused on 'producing' for the foreign market, with the result that he was only 'discovered' in the Netherlands later. His beach views with shell fishermen in particular were then and are still highly sought after.
Scherrewitz taught B. Fokker and Jan Holtrup. He was a member of 'Arti et Amicitiae' in Amsterdam. He died in Hilversum on August 9, 1951.
