A cattle market on De Groest, Hilversum

Ships from The Netherlands

Daatselaar Fine Art & Antiques
Premier Seller
Willem de Zwart was born in The Hague where he lived and studied until 1894. He studied at the Hague Academy and from 1877 he was taken under the care of Jacob Maris. The then experienced master of the Hague School, but not yet at the peak of his fame, often gave advice to young people, but Willem de Zwart must be regarded as his one and only student. During this apprenticeship he mainly had to copy old masters in the Mauritshuis and watercolor still lifes. Until the mid-eighties there is a logical relationship between De Zwart’s work and that of Maris. In those years, De Zwart also spent a lot of time with George Hendrik Breitner, who was about the same age, who was studying in The Hague at the time. The two made a trip to Drenthe in 1885 and painted several similar subjects.

His choice of subjects belonged to the Hague School and his style and his exuberant use of color to the school of Amsterdam Impressionism. Willem de Zwart’s work shows a wide range of subjects: landscapes, cityscapes, portraits and still lifes, rendered in a naturalistic-impressionist style.

He is also known as the “Hague Breitner” because of the similarity of his work to that of George Hendrik Breitner. He painted his landscapes, figure paintings and still lifes with smooth, bold brushstrokes. De Zwart applied the paint thickly, sometimes straight from the tube, with bright colors, exuberant reds, yellows, and blues, giving his paintings special vibrancy.

This painting was executed around 1897-1900, when Willem de Zwart lived in Het Gooi. During this period, he painted several views of the cattle market on the Groest in Hilversum. According to the art historian G.H. Marius, it enabled the artist to distance himself from the Hague School in style as well as subject matter. As Richard Bionda noticed in his excellent book on the artist, De Zwart studied the farmers extensively, especially their attitudes and movements, of which he executed numerous drawings. This painting brings the motive to the foreground, close to the viewer, who is drawn into that space. This effect is enhanced by the size of the painting, being by far the largest and most impressive cattle market Willem de Zwart ever painted.

This cattle market painting can be compared to an etching of the same subject, with the image reversed. This etching is also in our collection. Bionda dates this etching ca. 1898. The Dutch art critic Albert Plasschaert mentioned in 1906 the existence of this painting with the same subject as the etching. When the monograph was published only the etching was known.

The artist also painted a watercolour of the same subject, illustrated in P.A. Scheen, Lexicon Nederlandse Beeldende Kunstenaars 1750-1950, The Hague 1970, illustration 362.

Literature: A. Plasschaert, Kritiek van Beeldende Kunsten II (1906), p. 29;
R. Bionda, Willem de Zwart 1862-1931, Haarlem 1984, pp. 43-45, p. 106-107
Origin and period
Dutch private collection
Name
A cattle market on De Groest, Hilversum
Makers
Willem de Zwart (creator)
Categories
Paintings
Origins
The Netherlands
Periods
19th Century Antique
Materials
Oil on canvas
Measurements
Height: 79 cm, Width: 105 cm
Reference
DAAA100598
Daatselaar Fine Art & Antiques
Premier Seller
Founded in 1978
Artlistings seller since 2015

Ask the seller

More from this seller

You may also like

    Dutch landscape with sheep

    Dutch landscape with sheep

    Sebastiaan Vrancx (1573-1647)

    Sebastiaan Vrancx (1573-1647)

    Herder met hond en kudde schapen

    Herder met hond en kudde schapen

    Willem Steelink Jr

    Adrianus Johannes (Arie) Zwart 1903 – 1981

    Adrianus Johannes (Arie) Zwart 1903 – 1981

    Adrianus Johannes (Arie) Zwart

    Anemones

    Anemones

    Wilhelmus Hendrikus Petrus Johannes de Zwart

    'De Hooge Wilgen (Loosdrecht)'

    'De Hooge Wilgen (Loosdrecht)'

    Ernst Leyden

    De Hooge Wilgen

    De Hooge Wilgen

    Ernst Leyden

    View of the Noordermarkt

    View of the Noordermarkt

    Isaac Israëls

    The Lutheran church in Amsterdam

    The Lutheran church in Amsterdam

    Willem Koekkoek

    Milking time in a summer landscape

    Milking time in a summer landscape

    Willem de Zwart

    The Fish Market of Zaltbommel in winter

    The Fish Market of Zaltbommel in winter

    Cornelis Springer