DUTCH ROMANTIC, HAGUE SCHOOL and IMPRESSIONISTS

The Romantic Movement was a reaction to the cold neo-classicism of the Napoleontic times throughout western Europe. In an effort to express human feelings and anguish, German and French artists were engaged in contrasting the humility of mankind against the brute forces of nature, resulting in extremely atmospheric scenes with dynamic skies, strong light effects and wild seas.

The Dutch romantic painters, however, were far less dramatic than their European counterparts. In Holland, the Romantic passion was expressed in a strong longing for history and for the glory of the Dutch 17th century. There was great admiration and kinship to the 17th century Old Masters with artists trying to emulate the high level of technical perfection. From about 1875, The Hague School was emerging, under the influence of the French Barbizon school and impressionism: painting outside 'en-plein-air' instead of in a studio in a style based on direct impressions from nature. Hendrik Willem Mesdag's open-minded approach in depicting the seas was a completely new phenomenon. The sea formed an eternal challenge for him, and others, in all her moods; tranquil or violent, shining or menacing.

Around the 1890s in France, impressionism was followed by post-impressionism, which places greater emphasis on the form, structure and content of the painting. This movement, too, was picked up in Holland, resulting in a Dutch post-impressionism and introducing abstract elements and cubism into modern painting.