Hendrik Willem Mesdag artwork • painting • previously for sale Return of the fishing fleet, Scheveningen
Hendrik Willem Mesdag
Groningen 1831-1915 Den Haag
1831-1915
Return of the fishing fleet, Scheveningen
oil on canvas 69.0 x 88.2 cm, signed l.r.
This painting was previously for sale.
H.W. Mesdag was the seascape painter of The Hague School. He chose the painting profession relatively late in life. Having first lived in Oosterbeek and Brussels he settled in The Hague in 1869, where he was instantly captivated by the beach, sea and lives of the fishermen in nearby Scheveningen. Using quick, informal brushstrokes and an infinite variety of browns, golds and greys he applied these motifs to the canvas. Mesdag produced a large body of work, as if wanting to make up for his lost time. His work was very popular in France and won awards at the Paris Salon on more than one occasion.