Hendrik Willem Mesdag (Dutch, 1831-1915)

Hendrik Willem Mesdag (Dutch, 1831-1915)

Morning Fishing Boats at Anchor

Signed lower right “”H W Mesdag”"
Oil on canvas

Inscribed with title on a label affixed to the stretcher
24 x 51 inches

This work retains its original frame

Provenance: Purchased by Eliza Hall Park McCullough and John G. McCullough circa 1900;
And by descent in the family;
The Park McCullough House Association, 1975

Other Notes: Hendrik Willem Mesdag was the first of the artists to move to The Hague in 1869, followed by Maris, Israels Mauve and Weissenbruch, amongst many others. The group became known as “”The Hague School”" and was characterized by paintings with muted tones in warm greys. The critic Jacob van Stanten Kolff described the work as “”intent to convey mood, tone takes precedence over color… almost exclusive preference for so-called…gray mood.”"
This work Morning: Fishing Boats at Anchor
, is one of Mesdag’s masterpieces, with its grand scale, and rhythmic arrangement of figures and boats. The subtle tonal quality of the greys pinks and blues are visible even under 100 years of surface grime and aged varnish.
”

Estimate: $40,000-80,000

Proceeds to Benefit Historic Park-McCullough Association, North Bennington, Vermont