From charming portraits of children to poignant scenes depicting child labour. For the first time, the museum is turning its full attention to the children who appear in the works of the Hague School painters, a neglected subject that has never before been presented in this way. The exhibition ‘Children of the Hague School: Playing, working, surviving’ is on display at Museum Panorama Mesdag from 16 December.
Playing, working, surviving Through the eyes of the illustrious painters of the Hague School – including Hendrik Willem Mesdag, Suze Robertson, Jozef Israëls and the Maris brothers, along with contemporaries such as Thérèse Schwartze and Barbara van Houten – this exhibition offers visitors a unique glimpse into the lived experiences of children at the end of the 19th century. The images of young children doing physical labour or handwork, often in order to survive, contrast sharply with the intimate portraits these painters made of their own children, whose existence was often carefree. Yet there is one thing each and every one of these children had common: they all loved to play.
‘There is much to enjoy in this narrative exhibition that brings together fantastic works of art, many of which are on loan from private collections. At the same time, it is a thought-provoking presentation that will inevitably touch the hearts of everyone who sees it,’ says Adrienne Quarles van Ufford, curator at Museum Panorama Mesdag.
Children as main subject The painters of the Hague School are well-known for their typical Dutch landscapes and windswept seascapes, as well as their intimate impressions of the lives of simple farmers and fishermen. The artists usually worked with models. Children appear in many of their paintings, as depictions of children were popular and tended to fetch good prices. What can the images tell us about this time period and the artists’ perceptions of their era? This exhibition centres on the day-to-day activities of these children, as captured by the artists. It focuses on their play, whether that involves a homemade boat on the shore, as depicted by Jozef Israels, or a goat or porcelain doll, as painted by Matthijs Maris or Barbara van Houten. Or on their hobbies, as in Floris Arntzenius, Jan Hendrik Weissenbruch and Jacob Maris’ depictions of their own children practising painting and music at home. But it also looks at the very real labour of young people who worked in the fields, as captured by Anton Mauve and Jacob Maris, and at those who gathered driftwood, in a work by Philip Sadée, and at children working in a basket weavers’ workshop, depicted by Wally Moes, and at a girl selling matches on the street, painted by Floris Arntzenius. The lives of the latter, the workers who were often very young children, was geared entirely toward earning a living and surviving.
Van Houten’s child labour law One theme that receives particular attention in the exhibition is young children who are obliged to work, often in difficult conditions. The liberal politician Samuel van Houten – who was Sientje Mesdag-van Houten’s brother – put forth the bill that came to be known as ‘Van Houten’s child labour law’. This law only partially did away with child labour, as it only outlawed one specific type: factory work done by children 12 and under. The work being done by children in the fields and fisheries, as street vendors and in and around people’s homes continued as before. The exhibition also includes an intimate portrait of Samuel van Houten in his later years, painted by his daughter Barbara van Houten, which belongs to Museum Panorama Mesdag’s own collection.
According to museum director Minke Schat, ‘2024 marks the 150th anniversary of the adoption of Van Houten’s child labour law, a turning point in the social history of the Netherlands. While child labour is no longer legal here, it is still an everyday occurrence in certain low wage countries. It is high time we broaden our perspective on the past. Through this exhibition, we are illustrating the importance of keeping one’s eyes open to unacceptable labour conditions and social inequality.’
Ode to Klaasje Mesdag Childhood drawings by Mesdag’s son Klaasje have been preserved in his father’s sketchbooks. Together with family portraits and photos, these remarkable drawings are now being displayed for the first time. The exhibition also includes a letter Klaasje wrote to his grandfather. Klaasje Mesdag – the only child of Hendrik Willem Mesdag and Sientje Mesdag-Van Houten – died quite young, never reaching his 8th birthday.
Career women This exhibition also devotes ample attention to female artists such as Wally Moes, Thérèse Schwartze, Henriëtte de Vries, Froukje Wartena and Barbara van Houten. Why did they only paint other people’s children? The answer is as simple as it is shocking: most of these artists chose to remain unmarried and to forego having children in order to pursue an artistic career. At the time, it was considered inappropriate for a married woman to earn an income. In other words, only men were allowed to work for a living.
Tiny paintings The smallest painting in the exhibition measures less than seven by eight centimetres. Johannes Akkeringa painted this beach scene, which features children playing in the surf, for his own children’s dollhouse. This intimate exhibition also includes several other diminutive artworks, such as a portrait Jacob Maris painted of his son, Willem, which is only around fourteen by twelve centimetres.
Exhibition
With over 45 works by 29 different artists, a remarkable selection of art has been brought together thanks to loans from Centraal Museum Utrecht, the Municipality of Laren, The Hague Historical Museum, the Jan Menze van Diepen Foundation in Slochteren, Kunstmuseum Den Haag, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Museum Gouda, the Dutch National Archives in The Hague, Noordbrabants Museum, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, Singer Laren and Amsterdam City Archives. The exhibition also includes many works from private collections, some of which have never or only rarely been displayed elsewhere.
Children of the Hague School: Playing, working, surviving. The exhibition is accompanied by a richly illustrated publication that will cover every aspect of the exhibition, supplemented by historical background accounts and first-person texts. Its authors are Adrienne Quarles van Ufford, Head of Museum Affairs and the curator of this exhibition, and Jeroen Kapelle, curator of 19th century works at RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History. Published by Uitgeverij Waanders. Format: 112 pages ISBN 978 94 6262 527 3 |
