| Antonie Gerardus de Jong Nederlandse_taal
Dutch Painter - 2nd Generation The Hague School, later Dutch Impressionist 1860-1932 | de Jong Gallery | Background de Jong Contemporaries |
| |||
|
Artistic Separation
Around 1870, Jozef Israëls, one of the prominent Hague School artists, "discovered" the town of Laren.
Israëls' move to this bucolic setting was followed by other Hague School artists, including
Anton Mauve, Albert Neuhuys, and Jan Weissenbruch. Considered a subset of The Hague School, the Laren artists continued to sell their works through the Pulchri Studio.
Like other Hague School artists, de Jong moved to Laren; however, his move appeared to be independent of his mentor, Willem Maris, as Maris was not reported to have lived in Laren.
It was at this point in his life that de Jong separated from other Hague School artists. According to his daughter, Maria, as a "shy, highstrung and hypersensitive individual," de Jong did not integrate well into Laren's artist colony social scene.
Another consideration may have been that de Jong was approximately 20 years younger than the Laren artists.
Despite a lack of social involvement with other artists, Laren was the inspiration for de Jong's landscape paintings.
Consistent with The Hague School, the sky was particularly important to de Jong. Weissenbruch stated:
"The light and the sky....that's the key problem. I could never introduce enough light into my paintings.
The sky in a painting is an object in itself...the main and most important object of the painting."
The Laren sky that de Jong painted started in a realistic tone, but over time became more impressionistic and then might be described as
wild"
| |||
|
|
