Oil painting entitled 'Dutch River Scene' by Evert Moll. The Netherlands, early 20th century.

A river scene with sailing boats and boats at anchor in the sunlight with a town in the background.

Bequeathed by Bernard H. Webb

Historical significance: This painting is a typical work by Evert Moll, who specialised in landscapes and seascapes, and particularly boats in harbour. Similar works, such as Inner harbour with vessels (inv. no. 005981) and View of Enkhuizen with dike and the Dromedaris (inv. no. 006008) are in the Zuiderzee Museum, Enkhuizen.

Evert Moll (1878-1955) was self-taught, but influenced by the Hague School, and was a lifelong friend of Albert Roelofs, the son of Willem Roelofs, and may have met Willem Maris (1844-1910). Typical characteristics of Moll's work include broken brushwork and the use of pure colours. Moll's work is difficult to date, as his style changed little.

The great tradition of the Golden Age constituted a real burden for Dutch painters in the 19th century. Many continued to paint in the style of the masters of the 17th century, but a more direct approach to nature emerged. The arrival of the Barbizon school gave new life to a tradition that had been stagnating. Hendrik Mesdag (1831-1915), Anton Mauve (1838-1888), Jozef Israëls (1824-1911) and Jacob Maris (1837-1899) were the nucleus of the Hague School, founded in the 1870s. Their subdued colour and sketchy technique puzzled contemporary art critics who then nicknamed this new movement as the 'grey school'. 19th-century Dutch paintings wee popular with British collectors, including James Staats Forbes (1823-1904), Alexander Young and Sir John Charles Frederic Sigismund Day (1826-1908).

Evert Moll (1878-1955) was born in Voorbug. He lived and worked there until 1930 but also in London (1899-1905), Paris, Rotterdam and The Hague where he died. He was an autodidact but in contact with Willem Maris (1844-1910) and a member of the Pulchri Studio. Besides being a painter, he worked also as an art dealer. His works are preserved in the Zuiderzee Museum and the Museum Boijmans-van Beuningen.

This painting is a good example of Moll's seascapes, a genre in which he specialised along with landscape paintings. Moll was particularly interested with harbours' life that he extensively represented in his oeuvre. The present painting shows a crowded harbour with vivid tones that radiate under a bright sunlight.

P.47-1919