Johannes Warnardus Bilders artwork • painting • for sale Landscape with a goatherd

For the greater part of his life J.W. Bilders lived and worked in Oosterbeek, Gelderland. The ancient oak and beech woods as well as the heathland surrounding this village in the Veluwe region were a continuous source of inspiration to him. Around 1860 he was one of the early Dutch painters to discover the French Barbizon School. Thereafter he worked mainly directly from nature 'en plein air', applying his paint in free, bold strokes. For these reasons he is sometimes called one of the precursors of the Hague School. Among his pupils were his son Gerard Bilders and H.W. Mesdag.