Jan Hendrik Weissenbruch Dutch, 1824-1903

Executed ca. 1880-1881
Please compare this lot to lot 313

It is difficult to make a general statement about the plein-air painting of the masters of the Hague School. It is known of most of them that they sketched outdoors, either with pencil or with watercolour or sometimes in oil paint on small panels. Weissenbruch made his notes usually on small sketchbook sheets and once he was in his studio, he was able to create a completely worked-out watercolour or a sizeable oil painting. The result was often so sparkling that it seemed to have been painted sur le motif in just a few hours. 

After Weissenbruch’s extensive studies in the surrounding of The Hague, an area that changed rapidly because of the expansion of The Hague, he discovered the beauty of the Nieuwkoopse Plassen and the area of Noorden after an invitation of the frame-maker Sala from Leiden. It appears from correspondence that this discovery, which he shared with Willem Roelofs, Gabriël and Stortenbeker, was a closely guarded secret that must must be kept from his fellow artists.

This Dutch landscape with its waterways and lakes and the sense of space appealed greatly to Weissenbruch. We come across it in many aquarelles and paintings, from which he would make, if it suited him, a replication without any difficulty for the occasion of a birthday. He said about his approach: “When it is storming and raining, when the thunder rumbles and lightning strikes, I am in my element for nature should be seen in action. Once outside, I put on my reefing jacket, put my feet in my clogs, don my hat and go on a march. As the rain subsides, I make a quick thumbnail sketch with charcoal or black coloured crayon to hold on to what I see. When working it out, the tone and colours are automatically remembered”.