Fishing Boats on the Shore

Mesdag became internationally known as a marine painter. This painting is one of a few similar works that shows Mesdag’s love for fishing boats, fishermen’s lives and the sea in its various shades of grey. The Mesdag residence in Brussels was a meeting point for Belgian and Dutch artists. The Mesdags collected Barbizon School paintings and other French, Dutch and Belgian works. In 1887, the couple commissioned a house in The Hague with quarters large enough to hold their assorted artwork. The site is now known as the Mesdag Collection.