Philip Lodewijk Jacob Frederik Sadée Dutch, 1837-1904

Philip Sadée, born in The Hague in 1837, made his artistic debut at the age of twenty. At that time he specialised in historical and biblical subjects, which earned him considerable success. Around 1865 he distanced himself from these academic subjects and shifted his attention to genre scenes, subjects taken from daily life. For a period of six months he studied with the famous Düsseldorf genre painter Albert Kindler, whose colourful and finished style he adopted.

In 1868, during his stay in the fishing village of Scheveningen, Sadée got fascinated by the fishing genre. He often worked in the dunes and on the beach, which became an inexhaustible source of inspiration. As Johan Gram already recognised in 1898, Sadée’s contribution to the then popular fishing genre was completely original. No wonder the artist was highly regarded in his time. In fact, his accurate, finished brushwork and bright colours secured him a place of his own within the ‘greyish’ Hague School.

The present lot, which was discovered only recently, depicts a group of fisherwomen and children awaiting the return of the fishing boats in the dunes of Katwijk. This was always an important and emotional moment in the fishing village. The fisherwomen are watching from the dunes to see the ships returning (some pointing out to the ships in the distance), others are preparing the fish market on the beach. This great painting focuses our attention on the fisherwomen overlooking the sea. They are painted in a careful, yet natural manner, standing in a stiff breeze and the beautiful, late afternoon light. In many ways, this great painting is a wonderful example of Sadée’s highly original style, which earned him international recognition.