Hendrik Willem and Sientje Mesdag were not only artists, but were also collectors of, for example, paintings by their close colleagues. These painters are now known as The Hague School. But what type of art did they make? And how did the Mesdags contribute to their success?
No group
The painters of The Hague School did not refer to themselves as such. What they had in common was that they worked outdoors in nature, but they did not officially form a group. Of course the Mesdags, Jozef Israëls, Anton Mauve and the three Maris brothers, Jacob, Matthijs and Willem, all knew each other.
Anton Mauve, Donkey Stand on the Beach at Scheveningen, 1876
Everyday subjects
Marshy landscapes, cloudy skies, the hard toil of fishermen or the simple farming life. Many of The Hague artists painted everyday subjects of this kind in the last quarter of the 19th century.
Anton Mauve, Lumber Sale, 1881
Mud painters
Admirers valued the mood or atmosphere in the work of The Hague painters. Others called them ‘mud painters’ or spoke of ‘realistic beastliness’. They were referring to the drab colours and stark realities depicted by these artists. Artists, like Mauve, for example, who painted this watercolour of a dreary day.
Artist friends
The Mesdags liked to buy paintings by their artist friends. One of these was Jacob Maris, from whom they purchased this Mill in 1879. Maris lived on the outskirts of The Hague and often painted mills.
Jacob Maris, Windmill, 1879
Willem Maris, The Calves, 1863
Landscapes with animals
Willem Maris liked to paint landscapes featuring animals, such as ducks on the edge of a ditch or cows standing around a puddle. Most of his paintings seem to be sun-drenched, as he paid a great deal of attention to the reflection of light. He said:
‘I don’t paint cows, I paint light’.
‘A painting by Mauve or Maris or Israëls speaks more and more clearly than nature itself’.
Vincent van Gogh in a letter to his brother Theo, 19 June 1879
Open-air painting
Artists have always headed out of their studios to make sketches of nature. However painting outdoors was a novelty made possible by the invention of paint in tubes. The painters of The Hague School observed the sky, the light and the effect of weather on landscape. To work quickly, they often used broad, less precise brush strokes.
Théophile de Bock, Thunderstorm, 1881
Barbizon
The idea of painting in nature came from the painters who had gathered in the French village of Barbizon. They preferred setting up their easels in the woods to working in their studios. Mesdag’s teacher Willem Roelofs had been inspired by this spontaneous way of painting during his time in Barbizon. He passed his enthusiasm on to Mesdag.
Nail holes in the canvas
Willem Roelofs painted Lakes near Kortenhoef outdoors in the open air. Tiny holes are visible in the corners of the canvas. They are caused by the small nails Roelofs used to attach the painting to the lid of his portable painter’s chest.
Willem Roelofs, Lakes near Kortenhoef, 1880
Nail holes in the top left-hand corner of Willem Roelofs’ Lakes near Kortenhoef
‘Could anyone but a Dutchman see nature this way ... situating such a wealth of poetry in the plainest, most unembellished scene of the simplest possible reality? I doubt it’.
Jacob van Santen Kolff, who coined the term ‘Hague School’, in De Banier, 1875
Pulchri Studio
Many of The Hague’s artists, art lovers and collectors were members of the art society Pulchri Studio. With its art evenings, exhibitions and parties, Pulchri was the beating heart of the city’s artistic community. The Mesdags were members, and Hendrik Willem was even the society’s chairman from 1889 to 1906. During this period, the exhibition policy of the Pulchri Studio blossomed, resulting in excellent sales.
International fame
Hendrik Willem and Sientje were both involved in organising exhibitions. Thanks to Mesdag, members of Pulchri exhibited their work at important art events in France, Germany and America. Mesdag also organised a benefit exhibition with more than 5,000 works in Scheveningen in 1902. His efforts contributed enormously to the wider popularity of The Hague School.
Inside Pulchri Studio, early 20th century
Group photo at the opening of the 30th exhibition of the Dutch Drawing Society. Sientje Mesdag-van Houten, Jozef Israëls and Hendrik Willem Mesdag are sitting in the front row. (photo: The Hague City Archives)
Promoting watercolour
Painting in watercolour became increasingly popular in the 19th century, but these watercolours were hardly ever publicly exhibited. To promote the art of watercolours, fifteen artists founded the Hollandsche Teekenmaatschappij (Dutch Drawing Society). This society started to organise sales exhibitions in 1876, which was a formula for success. And the first board of the society? That consisted of Anton Mauve, Jacob Maris and Hendrik Willem Mesdag.
Buying and selling
Thanks to the Dutch Drawing Society, watercolours became more popular and fetched increasingly high prices. Mesdag sold his own work at exhibitions, and he also bought works regularly. Though Hendrik Willem would often bargain to lower the price, the Mesdags paid 7,500 guilders for this watercolour by Jozef Israëls. It was an unusually large sum for a watercolour.
Jozef Israëls, Dredgers, 1895
Suze Robertson, Sleeping Girl, 1894
Friends
Sientje Mesdag was a friend of the painter Suze Robertson. They were two of the few women members of Pulchri and the Dutch Drawing Society. Robertson had an expressive style of painting and drawing, and used strong colours. The Mesdags bought her watercolour of a sleeping girl.
‘Nowadays, artists are making drawings that almost equal oil paintings in their force and intensity of colour’.
Critic on an exhibition of the Dutch Drawing Society, Algemeen Handelsblad, 13 August 1880
Jozef Israëls, Alone, 1881
10,000 guilders
Hendrik Willem and Sientje Mesdag bought several artworks by their good friend Jozef Israëls. When they bought his painting Alone, it had already been exhibited in Paris, London, Amsterdam, Munich and Manchester. They paid a small fortune for it: 10,000 guilders. No ‘friend’s discount’ for this painting!
Appreciated
As artists, Hendrik Willem and Sientje had a good eye for developments in art. Moreover, they were friends with many artists. Next to their work as an artist, Hendrik Willem and Sientje were active in art circles in The Hague. Thanks to their efforts, the painters of the Hague School were no longer seen as ‘mud painters’ and were appreciated.
