Building the New Harbour at Enkhuizen
Hendrik Willem Mesdag (1831 - 1915), 1885-1886
oil on canvas, 90.5 cm x 274 cm
Credits: The Mesdag Collection, The Hague
Mesdag became known primarily for his depictions of the life of fishermen and of ships at sea. Quite exceptionally he chose a topical subject for his Building the New Harbour Works in Enkhuizen. Here he painted the construction of the rail link between Enkhuizen and Amsterdam and the associated harbour works for the ferry to Stavoren.
Mesdag painted the expansive landscape from a slightly elevated vantage point. He used a large, oblong canvas. He had also done this five years earlier for his even larger Panorama of Scheveningen, the study for which is on view in The Mesdag Collection.
- Object number
- hwm0228
- Dimensions
- 90.5 cm x 274 cm, 124 cm x 308 cm, 9 cm
- Provenance
- Collection Museum Mesdag donated by Hendrik Willem Mesdag and Sientje Mesdag-van Houten, The Hague, to the State of the Netherlands, 14 May 1903; Rijksmuseum H.W. Mesdag, The Hague, from 1 August 1903; in trust of the Mauritshuis, The Hague, between 1934 and 1990; in trust of the Rijksmuseum Vincent van Gogh, Amsterdam, from 1 April 1990; Museum Mesdag, in trust of the Van Gogh Museum Foundation, Amsterdam, from 1 July 1994, under the name of De Mesdag Collectie from 2011.
- artist
- Hendrik Willem Mesdag
- Credits
- The Mesdag Collection, The Hague
The Hague, De Mesdag Collectie, Samen in de schijnwerpers. De Mesdags in hun museum, 31 March-9 July 2023
Oud, Peter S., Hendrik Willem Mesdag brengt Enkhuizen in beeld, p. 45
Lopez, J., A jewel restored
Dijk, Maite van, Suijver, Renske, Fitski, M., Smits, C., De Mesdag Collectie, Amsterdam, 2011, p. 64, 74-75
Dijk, Maite van, Suijver, Renske, Fitski, M., Smits, C., The Mesdag Collection, Amsterdam, 2011, p. 64, 74-75
Bodt, Saskia de, Leeman, Fred, Leeuw, Ronald de, Pennock, Hanna, Museum Mesdag : catalogue of paintings and drawings, Zwolle, 1996, p. 307-308