Passing Mother's Grave

Passing Mother's Grave or Langs Moeders Graf also known as Passing the Churchyard is an oil painting on canvas made in 1856 by the Dutch Realist artist and a representative of the Hague School of painters Jozef Israëls. The subject of the painting is a widowed fisherman walking past his deceased wife's grave with his two children.

Passing Mother's Grave
Dutch: Langs Moeders Graf
ArtistJozef Israëls
Year1856 (1856)
MediumOil-on-canvas
MovementRealism (arts)
SubjectGrief
Dimensions274.5 cm (108.1 in) x 207.5 cm (81.7 in)
LocationStedelijk Museum Amsterdam

In the early stages of his career, Israëls primarily painted portraits, genre scenes, and historical subjects. Passing Mother's Grave marked one of his initial forays into Realism by depicting peasant life and set the stage for the artist's lasting fascination with the theme of fishermen. This painting quickly became one of his most renowned works, gaining popularity through numerous print reproductions and several painted copies executed by the artist himself.

Due to its focus on the Dutch working class, the painting has been compared to The Stone Breakers, a 1849 painting by the French realist painter Gustave Courbet, and is considered a prominent example of the Dutch realist movement in the second half of the 19th-century. Passing Mother's Grave is said to have influenced future modern artists in the Netherlands, including the Post-Impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh who listed it among his favorite works.

History

After his initial artistic training in Academie Minerva in Groningen, Israëls moved to Paris in 1945 and lived there until 1847, studying at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts under James Pradier, Horace Vernet and Paul Delaroche.[1] In 1947, he returned to Amsterdam and enrolled at the Koninklijke Academie, where he studied under Jan Willem Pieneman.[1] Israëls traveled to Düsseldorf in 1950 before returning to Paris in 1953; there he became acquainted with and drew inspiration from the work of Barbizon School painters.[1] During that time, he made small portraits and genre paintings, while also finding influence in Romantic poetry and historical subjects.[1]

Following the unfavorable reception of his historical painting William of Orange in Council with Regent Margaret of Parma—a work portraying scene from the life of Dutch King William the Silent, a key leader in the 17th-century revolt against Habsburg Spain—at the 1855 Exposition Universelle in Paris, the artist pivoted his focus towards contemporary Dutch themes. He subsequently concentrated on capturing the essence of fishing communities in Holland.[1] From 1855 to 1856, Israëls spent time in the fishing villages of Zandvoort and Katwijk where he observed the Dutch fishermen and their families.[2] In fishing villages, he became acquainted with the daily lives of the working class. In 1856, Passing Mother's Grave became one of his first paintings in the peasant genre and "introduced into Dutch art a powerful variant of French Realism".[1]

Analysis
Detail from the Jozef Israëls Monument[3]

The painting in the collection of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam is an oil-on-canvas painting with dimensions of 274.5 cm (108.1 in) x 207.5 cm (81.7 in).[4] It is a portrayal of a widower walking past the grave of his wife, with his young children. The three people in the image are all barefoot.[5] The man is a fisherman and he is holding a boy's hand and carrying a baby as he passes the headstone of his deceased wife.[6] The painting was an attempt by Israëls to move from his traditional subject matter of historical paintings, toward contemporary portrayals of peasant life.[7]

The color of the painting is nearly grey-brown and almost monochrome.[8] The sky in the painting is dark and ominous, but there is a sliver of blue sky which is thought to represent hope. The Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie stated that the models which Israëls used for the image were Klaas Helweg and the two children of Hendrik Helweg.[5] Dutch poet Nicolaas Beets is credited for naming the image "Passing Mother's Grave" in 1861.[9] In Mondriaan and the Hague School by Dutch painter Piet Mondrian, he refers to the painting as Passing the Churchyard.[10] The painting was purchased by the Amsterdam Academy of Fine Arts.[11]

Reception
Gustave Courbet, The Stonebreakers, oil on canvas, 1849[12]

The painting is considered to be a milestone for 19th-century realism in the Netherlands.[2] Art historian Sheila D. Muller wrote that the artist accomplishes a "monumental treatment of the commonplace" and compared its impact to that of The Stone Breakers, an 1849 painting by the French realist painter Gustave Courbet.[2] The Israeli newspaper Haaretz stated, "The works that came out of the Zandvoort experience are dark, somber and filled with feeling and compassion".[13]

Johann Heinrich Maria Hubert Rennefeld, a print from The Children of the Sea after the painting by Jozef Israëls (1861–1872)[14]

Hendrik Enno van Gelder (H.E. van Gelder) called the painting a "genuinely new moment and the obvious beginning of the second period of Israëls's development."[5] Prior to genre painting, Israëls had been copying the Renaissance and Baroque masters.[2] The painting gained popularity due to being frequently reproduced in print. For instance, Artists Johannes Heinrich Rennefeld and Willem Steelink Jr. made prints of the painting on three separate occasions, which were then published and distributed both in and beyond the Netherlands.[5] While the work is generally considered among the most prominent and recognized paintings by Israëls, it has also met with criticism, particularly in regard to what some have seen as an overtly sentimental subject matter. Writing for Scribner's Magazine in 1912, Byron P. Stephenson, who also worked as an art critic for the New York Evening Post, noted that while some people considered the work to be "one of Israëls's finest works", he thought that the sentiment of the painting was "cheap and mawkish".[6][15]

Due to the work's popularity, the subject of Passing Mother's Grave has also inspired the design of a statue erected in honor of Israëls in his hometown of Groningen. The statue is a depiction of the figures from this painting cast in bronze.[16] Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh counted the painting among his favorites. He was fascinated by the painting and compared it to the work of French painter Eugène Delacroix saying that he was taken in by the 'Delacroix-like technique.[17]

There are multiple versions of the painting completed by the artist. In addition to the best-known version in the collection of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, another copy is owned by The New Art Gallery Walsall in Walsall, England; at least one other version is known, sold to a private buyer in Vienna in 1907.[5] The Stedelijk version of the painting is dated 1857.[8] The version in the Walsall's collection is dated 1854 and titled The Widower (The Fisherman's Return).[18] [17] In 2008 another copy of the painting, titled Passing Mother's Tomb, sold at Lempertz auction house in Cologne, Germany. The painting which was listed as an Israels painting 94 cm (37 in) x 71.5 cm (28.1 in) realized a sale price of €19200.[19]

References
  1. Dekkers, Dieuwertje (2003). "Jozef Israëls,". Grove Art Online. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2023-04-13.
  2. Dutch art: an encyclopedia. New York: Garland Publishing. 1997. pp. 16, 195. ISBN 9781135495749. Archived from the original on 3 March 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  3. "Jozef Israëls Monument". Kuntspunt Groningen. Kunst. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  4. "Langs Het Kerkhof/Langs Moeders Graf". Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  5. "Passing Mother's Grave". Vads. The University for the Creative Arts. Archived from the original on 10 January 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  6. Dashiell, Alfred; Burlingame, Edward Livermore; Logan, Harlan; Bridges, Robert (1912). Scribner's Magazine (51 ed.). New York, New Yok: C. Scribner's Sons. p. 128. Archived from the original on 3 March 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  7. Dumas, Charles; Sillevis, John; de Leeuw, Ronald (1983). The Hague School: Dutch masters of the 19th century. London: Royal Academy of Arts, published in association with Weidenfeld & Nicolson. pp. 61, 120, 189, 190. ISBN 9780297780694. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  8. Novotny, Fritz (1960). Painting and Sculpture in Europe, 1780 to 1800. New York City: Penguin Books. p. 170. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  9. Israëls, Jozef (1999). Jozef Israëls, 1824-1911. Zwolle: Waanders. p. 140. ISBN 9789040094002.
  10. Mondrian, Piet (1980). Mondriaan and the Hague School Watercolours and Drawings from the Gemeentemuseum in the Hague. Manchester, England: Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester. p. 10.
  11. "Famous Painter Josef Israels, Dead". The New York Times. 13 August 1911. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  12. Harris, Beth; Zucker, Steven. "Gustave Courbet, The Stonebreakers". Smart History. Smarthistory. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  13. Green, David B. (12 August 2015). "This Day in Jewish History, 1911 - A Man Who Painted Bitter Life as He Saw It Dies". Haaretz. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  14. "Along the cemetery, Johann Heinrich Maria Hubert Rennefeld, after Jozef Israels, 1859". Rijksmuseum. Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  15. "Celebrated Painters". The Hartington Herald. 26 April 1917. Retrieved 16 April 2023.
  16. Verhoogt, Robert (2007). Art in Reproduction: Nineteenth-century Prints After Lawrence Alma-tadema, Jozef Israels and Ary Scheffer. Amsterdam University Press. p. 426. ISBN 978-90-5356-913-9. Archived from the original on 2023-03-03. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
  17. Leeuw, Ronald de (1997). Van Gogh Museum. Zwolle: Waanders. p. 100. ISBN 978-9040099281.
  18. "The Widower (The Fisherman's Return)". The New Art Gallery Walsall. The New Art Gallery Walsall. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  19. "Jozef Israels - Passing Mother´s Tomb". Lempertz. Lempertz. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
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