Mirror of Reality

Nineteenth Century Painting in the Netherlands fills a gap in art history. There has been no survey on Dutch art since 1948, and the only English publication available is a translation from an earlier 1920s book. This new publication offers a synthesis of research done by many during the last half century and provides new insights into the art market, into stylistic development, and into the relations between Dutch and foreign artists. It also offers over 500 full colour illustrations of paintings: some famous, some hardly known and even some new discoveries.

Vincent van Gogh, Joseph Israëls and Anton Mauve are internationally renowned Dutch painters from the 19th century. Their work was collected in Europe and the USA, and of course Van Gogh is perhaps the most famous artist ever. They came from a country famous for its painting since the 16th century. Yet apart from Van Gogh and the Hague School, 19th century Dutch art is for many still unfamiliar territory. This is no surprise, as the last overview dates from 1948, and an earlier book from 1920 was the only one translated in English (in 1973). So it is really high time that another survey is published, as much new research has been done since.

Jenny Reynaerts, senior curator of the Rijksmuseum and a well-known specialist on 19th century Dutch art, has written her book for a large reading public. She looks at the period with fresh eyes and often from a contemporary point of view. Her results show that Dutch painters were fare more internationally oriented than has been thought until now: Ary Scheffer became a superstar in France, as did Lawrence Alma-Tadema in England, and painters like Barend Cornelis Koekkoek, Johan Barthold Jongkind, Jacob and Matthijs Maris made a name for themselves all over Europe.

Nineteenth Century Painting in the Netherlands also addresses the thriving art market which led to specialization in different painting genres, reminiscent of the situation in the 17th century. The Dutch 'Salons', attended by huge crowds, were operative in defining a national style in painting, but were also places of artistic rivalry.

From the eighties the realist painters of the Hague School, impressionists like George Hendrik Breitner and Isaac Israels and Dutch symbolist painters Jan Toorop and Johan Thorn Prikker created their own brand of modernism, again in a constant dialogue with painters elsewhere.