The Mesdag Collection
An artist's private gallery, displaying the collection of the marine painter Hendrick Willem Mesdag (1831–1915) and his wife Sientje Mesdag-van Houten (1834-1909).
Similar studio museums...
- Leighton House, United Kingdom - the former home of Frederic, Lord Leighton (1830-1896), and his extensive art collection.
- Dorich House, United Kingdom - home to Dora Gordine (1895-1991) and her husband Richard Hare (1907-1966), containing her studio and his art collection.
Feature List
- Guided Tours
- Workshops
- Historic garden
Hendrik Mesdag and his wife both discovered painting in their thirties. Mesdag's cousin, the painter Lawrence Alma-Tadema (1836-1912) encouraged him to study in Brussels, and Mesdag ultimately chose to focus on marine painting, within which genre he was soon popularly acclaimed. Both Mesdag and Sientje became members of the renowned Pulchri Studio, the major artists' association in the Hague, which Mesdag led as Chairman from 1889-1906.
The Mesdags began collecting art in the 1860s, with a focus on works by their contemporaries, including many members of the Hague School - such as Willem Roelofs (1822-1897) and Anton Mauve (1838-1888) - and on Japanese art and ceramics. They displayed their collection throughout their home in the Hague, now the Mesdag Collection, where visitors can still see a world-class group of French Barbizon and Hague School paintings displayed in their original nineteenth-century surroundings.
