H.B. Koekkoek, Sailing ship

Painting Lot A-81010
Hendrik Barend Koekkoek (1849 – 1909)
Sailing ship

Oil on canvas, 40 x 58 cm

Painting

On this painting by the famous H. B. Koekoek is a ship painted, peacefully laying in calm water. In the forefront of the painting, there is a smaller, rowing boat visible with two persons in it. The bigger ship is identified by a Dutch flag and another flag is representing the city of Amsterdam. Based on the surrounding the ship is probably lying near the port of Amsterdam. The painting is painted very finely with visible details. The painter’s signature at the bottom right is clearly visible. This painting is a masterpiece.

This painting is painted on the transition from romanticism to the more realistic style of The Hague School.  The Hague School was introduced by a group of artists who lived and worked in the city of The Hague between 1860 and 1890. The Hague School was a style who resisted against Romanticism of the mid 19th century. The Hague School was ‘a new way of seeing and depicting things, intent to convey mood, tone takes precedence over color’. The Hague School characterized by its gray mood and bad weather effects. That is why the Hague School is also called the “Gray School”. The painting is framed in a contemporary beautiful hand painted 20th-century frame.

Painter

Hendrik Barend (H. B.) Koekoek belonged to a large painting family. In Dutch history, the family Koekkoek produced sixteen well-known painters in four generations and is considered to be the greatest painter family in the world. Hendrik Koekkoek was the son of H. Koekkoek and was historically one of the most gifted and versatile painters of the Netherlands. The works of H.B. Koekkoek had a romantic style, influenced by The Hague School. Koekkoek painted mostly beach and sea landscapes and scenes from the life of fishers. H.B. Koekkoek is included in the National Art History Documentation Center (RKD) in The Hague, Netherlands, he is also mentioned in the ‘Lexicon Dutch Visual Artists 1750 – 1950’ by Pieter A. Scheen.