Unloading the fishing boats on the Dutch shore

Details

Provenienz:
Seit Jahrzehnten in Privatbesitz, Süddeutschland.

Description

Andreas Achenbach repeatedly painted the Dutch coast in the changing light that accompanies the caprices of the weather in such an exposed location. The impetus to turn to marine painting came in 1831/32, when he travelled alongside his father along the North Sea and Baltic coasts via Rotterdam, Scheveningen, Amsterdam and Hamburg to Riga, during which Achenbach explored the realistic landscape conception of 17th century Dutch painting. In this coastal piece, the viewer’s gaze is drawn from the figure of the sailor wading through the waist-high waves from the left, carrying a heavy weight on his shouldered anchor, to the right towards several sailing boats that have landed on the beach, some of which lie in the mist. The returning fishermen are wrapped in a clammy wetness. The boats are already bustling with activity. The women of the coastal inhabitants have rushed in with baskets to offer the day’s catch for sale on the beach. In comparison to his depictions of shipwrecks and raging seas, here Achenbach dispenses with any drama: the special charm of this composition lies in the subtle palette, which displays a wide spectrum of the finest nuances between the grey-blue of the sea and the brown of the sand, and in the variability of the brushstrokes.