- 205
Hendrik Willem Mesdag
Description
- Hendrik Willem Mesdag
- Misty Weather
- signed and dated H W Mesdag 1896 lower right
oil on canvas
- 125 by 100cm., 49¼ by 39½in.
- 125 by 100.3 cm
Provenance
Maison Artz, The Hague (acquired from the artist, circa 1902)
Charles E. Gross, Hartford, Connecticut (acquired from the above, the artist's American agent, in 1903)
Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford, Connecticut (a gift from the above in 1903-04)
Exhibited
Hartford, Connecticut, Wadsworth Atheneum, (and additional venues), Paintings by Mesdag, 1903, no. 21
Hartford, Connecticut, Wadsworth Atheneum, A Second Look: Late 19th Century Taste in Paintings, 1958, no. 30
Literature
Frederick W. Morton, 'The Art of Hendrik Willem Mesdag' in Brush and Pencil, XI, no. 5, February 1903, pp. 321-35
'Mesdag's Misty Weather' in Hartford Courant, 13 February, 1903
'Three Paintings' in Hartford Courant, 16 February, 1903
'Mesdag's Paintings' in Hartford Courant, 21 February, 1903
Peter C. Sutton, A Guide to Dutch Art in America, Washington, D.C., 1986, p. 108
Egbert Haverkamp-Begemann, ed., Wadsworth Atheneum Paintings: The Netherlands and German-speaking Countries Fifteenth-Nineteenth Centuries, Hartford, vol. I, 1978, p. 161, no. 90, pl. 155, illustrated
Johan Poort, Hendrik Willem Mesdag, Wassenaar, p. 104 (cited in correspondence held in the archives of the Panorama Mesdag, The Hague)
Condition
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."
Catalogue Note
From an early submission to Philadelphia's Centennial International Exhibition of 1876 and into the twentieth century, Mesdag was one of the most celebrated Dutch artists in America. A leader of the "The Hague School," Mesdag was praised for his naturalistic seascapes which emphasized atmosphere and colour tone over the high finish and minute detail of his Romantic predecessors like Abraham Hulk. Beyond his brilliant artistry, Mesdag was a skilful promoter of Dutch art and of his own work in particular.
Though his planned trip to Chicago for the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 was cancelled, Mesdag did retain his title of government commissioner, co-organizing the paintings submitted on Holland's behalf, including five of his own compositions as well as a large number by Dutch artists lent from his personal collection. In 1092, Mesdag assembled over two dozen of his masterworks, including the impressive Misty Weather, for his first major American exhibition that toured St. Louis, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York, Hartford and Boston. The artist was represented in America by his agents, Mrs. H. Suez-Artz (wife of David Adolf Constant Artz, a fellow Hague School painter), and Mrs. Gruppe (the wife of the Canadian-American artist Charles Paul Gruppe, whose works were heavily influenced by Mesdag). While the agents made little profit for the artists during the tour (hefty American import duties were unplanned for), his paintings did receive notable public and critical attention (Poort, pp. 99-103). Misty Weather was acquired from the exhibition venue at the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford by Charles E. Gross on approval by its president Francis Goodwin (see the correspondence between Suez-Artz and Gross in Poort, p. 104).
Painted at the height of Mesdag's career, Misty Weather's palette of soft green-blues and buttery yellows evocatively captures the particular light effects of sun burning through sea moisture. The markings on the ships' sails name them as part of Scheveningen's fishing fleet, floating through smooth peaceful early morning waters. Since Mesdag's first visit to the village in 1869, the majority of his best compositions captured the fishermen's relationship with the water, as they struggled with stormy seas or enjoyed sunnier days.