What period is this from?
It is from the late 19th century; curators estimate the date at 1895. The artist, Hendrik Willem Mesdag, was among a group of Dutch painters known as the Hague School, who worked in that city from about 1870 to 1900. Their work is Realist in style and they were especially influenced by earlier French Realist landscape painters known as the Barbizon School (c. 1830s-1870s), as well as by the 17th-century Dutch landscape tradition. Unlike other Realist painters of the period, these artists preferred to emphasize a particular tone in their painting, which earned them the nickname of the ‘Grey school’.
Mesdag really chose his colors and his composition to create a mood so this painting also has a distinct Romantic quality. But he was also a careful and direct observer of nature. He painted this storm from sketches he made on-site on the beach near the Hague. The line between the Romantic era and the beginning of Realism isn't always clear. Often times movements don't end so 'neat and tidy' but blur together during times of transitions.
I don’t know anything about Mesdag. But I like In Danger. It reminds me of Winslow Homer. What can you tell me about him?
Hendrik Willem Mesdag, was among a group of Dutch painters known as the Hague School, who worked in that city from about 1870 to 1900. Their work is Realist in style and they were especially influenced by earlier French Realist landscape painters known as the Barbizon School (c. 1830s-1870s), as well as by the 17th-century Dutch landscape tradition.
Unlike other Realist painters of the period, these artists preferred to emphasize a particular tone in their painting, which earned them the nickname of the ‘Grey school’.
Very interesting. Thanks!