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.
Provenance: Daniel en Justina G. Catlin, St. Louis, Verenigde Staten, 1917, door hen geschonken aan het City Art Museum of St. Louis (thans Saint Louis Art Museum), St. Louis (Missouri), Verenigde Staten, inv.nr. 20:1917.
Literature: 'The Daniel Catlin Memorial Collection of Paintings', 'Bulletin of the City Art Museum of St. Louis', vol. 3, 1917, pag. 1, 6 (met afb.); 'Recent Accessions', 'Bulletin of the City Art Museum of St. Louis', vol. 3, 1917, pag. 12 (met afb.); 'Illustrated Catalogue of Paintings with Biographical Data and Descriptive Notes', City Art Museum of St. Louis, 1918, pag. 108, cat.nr. M28; St. Louis, City Art Museum of St. Louis, 'Summer Loan Exhibition: Paintings of the Modern Dutch School owned in St. Louis', 1922, cat.nr. 45; 'City Art Museum Catalogue of Paintings', City Art Museum of St. Louis, 1924, pag. 59, cat.nr. M28; 'Two sides of the Medal: French painting from Gérome to Gauguin', Bulletin of the Detroit Institute of Arts', 1954, pag. 22, 28, nr. 32 (met afb.); Peter C. Sutton, 'Dutch Art in America', The Netherlands-American Amity Trust inc., Grand Rapids, 1986, pag. 266; Johan Poort, Hendrik Willem Mesdag 1831-1915. Ouvrecatalogus Supplement, Wassenaar 1997, pag. 89, cat.nr. 2031.33 (met afb.).
Exhibited: St. Louis, City Art Museum of St. Louis, 'Summer Loan Exhibition: Paintings of the Modern Dutch School owned in St. Louis', 1922.
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.
© Simonis & Buunk
