Hendrik Willem Mesdag
Mesdag, Hendrik Willem
Born Feb. 23, 1831, in Groningen; died July 10, 1915, in The Hague. Dutch marine painter.
Beginning in 1866, Mesdag studied under W. Roelofs and L. Alma-Tadema in Brussels. In 1869 he settled in The Hague. One of the leading representatives of the Hague school, Mesdag painted seascapes in which he paid attention to atmosphere and depicted the elemental states of the sea and the hardships of a fisherman’s life. He donated his collection of paintings, which included works by members of the Barbizon school, to the city of The Hague. (The collection is in the Mesdag Museum.) Mesdag’s works include The Vlissingen Dike and Summer Evening in Sheveningen (both in the Mesdag Museum, The Hague).