Théophile Emile Achille de Bock (14 January 1851, in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

– 22 November 1904, in

Haarlem Haarlem (; predecessor of ''Harlem'' in English language, English) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands. It is the capital of the Provinces of the Nether ...

) was a Dutch painter belonging to the

Hague School The Hague School () is a group of artists who lived and worked in The Hague between 1860 and 1890. Their work was heavily influenced by the realist painters of the French Barbizon school. The painters of the Hague school generally made use of re ...

. Although many denigrate De Bock's work as too gray and too sketchy, Hague School champions love his work. Even

Van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artwork ...

was convinced of De Bocks "artistic temperament", although he eventually found his choice of subject too limited and tried to get De Bock to paint figure studies. But De Bock stuck to the subject he was good at, the Dutch landscapes.

Biography

Born in The Hague, De Bock started out as a clerk for the Dutch Railway Company, but then turned to painting full-time, when the work interfered with his drawing. He trained in The Hague under the landscape painters J.W. van Borselen, J.H. Weissenbruch and

Jacob Maris Jacob Henricus Maris (August 25, 1837 – August 7, 1899) was a Dutch painter, who with his brothers Willem and Matthijs belonged to what has come to be known as the Hague School of painters. He was considered to be the most important and influ ...

. He also spent time with

Willem Maris Willem Maris (18 February 1844 – 10 October 1910) was a Dutch landscape painter of the Hague School. Biography He was born in The Hague. Willem was the third in a family of five children. His two brothers Jacob Maris, Jacob and Matthijs Maris ...

and probably was one of his students as well. In 1880, De Bock traveled to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and

Barbizon Barbizon () is a commune (town) in the Seine-et-Marne department in north-central France. It is located near the Fontainebleau Forest. Demographics The inhabitants are called ''Barbizonais''. Art history The Barbizon school of painters is n ...

where he would often return, perhaps because of his appreciation for the work of

Millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae. Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...

and

Corot CoRoT (French: ; English: Convection, Rotation and planetary Transits) was a space telescope mission which operated from 2006 to 2013. The mission's two objectives were to search for extrasolar planets with short orbital periods, particularly t ...

. It was especially Corot and Jacob Maris who would influence De Bock greatly. In 1881 he contributed to the Panorama Mesdag of

Hendrik Willem Mesdag Hendrik Willem Mesdag (; 23 February 183110 July 1915) was a Dutch marine painter. Biography He was born in Groningen, the son of the banker Klaas Mesdag and his wife Johanna Wilhelmina van Giffen. Mesdag was encouraged by his father, an a ...

, where he painted the sky and dunes. He enticed Van Gogh to come and see the final work, and Van Gogh wrote enthusiastically about it in his letters to his brother Theo. Around 1880, he worked a great deal in

Scheveningen Scheveningen () is one of the eight districts of The Hague, Netherlands, as well as a subdistrict () of that city. Scheveningen is a modern seaside resort with a long, sandy beach, an esplanade, a pier, and a lighthouse. The beach is popular ...

and in the area of

Loosduinen Loosduinen () is a former village in the Netherlands that was a municipality unto itself until 1923, when it was annexed by The Hague and subsequently became a district of the city. Within the district there is also a neighbourhood (Dutch:wijk) c ...

, and from 1884, he also visited other areas. In the autumn of 1885, he went to

Drente Drenthe () is a provinces of the Netherlands, province of the Netherlands located in the northeastern part of the country. It is bordered by Overijssel to the south, Friesland to the west, Groningen (province), Groningen to the north, and the G ...

for the first time, and when he returned there the following summer, he took

Isaac Israëls Isaac Lazarus Israëls (; 3 February 1865 – 7 October 1934) was a Dutch painter associated with the Amsterdam Impressionism movement. Biography The son of Jozef Israëls, one of the most respected painters of the Hague School, an ...

with him. His landscapes are often heavy and gloomy, and his oil sketches of the megaliths were often monumental. He wrote, "My idea of life is to reproduce and interpret all that I see and feel to be beautiful around me." Although he hardly ever drew figures, his interest in the farmers was apparent from the number of short stories he wrote about farm life in Drente. As an alternative to

Pulchri Studio Pulchri Studio (Latin language, Latin:"For the study of beauty") is a Dutch art society, art institution and art studio based in The Hague ('s-Gravenhage), Netherlands. This institute began in 1847 at the home of painter Netherlandse kunstschil ...

, the Hague Art Circle was founded 1891 on the initiative of De Bock. Its goal was to promote the various artistic expressions such as the visual arts, crafts, architecture, music, musical arts and writing. De Bock became chairman of Visual Art and of the board. Although many painters were members of both organizations, the Art Circle offered the generation after 1850 an alternative to the Pulchri Studio, in which the renowned Hague School artists such as Mesdag, Israëls, and Jacob Maris were members. An exhibition organized in 1892 by

Jan Toorop Johannes Theodorus "Jan" TooropJan Toorop
Netherlands Institute for Art History, 2014. Retrieved on 18 February 201 ...

, which included works by

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade, he created approximately 2,100 artworks ...

, was a major success and the avant-garde reputation of the Art Circle was established.

Gallery

File:2017-02 Théophile de Bock - View of Kampen harbour.jpg, View of Kampen Harbor File:Dutch Painting in the 19th Century - De Bock - On the Heelsum Road.png, On the Heelsum Road. File:Hunebed Theophile de Bock.jpg, Sketch of Hunnebedden (megalithic monuments). File:Theophole de Bock, Barbizon.jpg, ''Barbizon, 1880'', Coll. Kunsthandel Pygmalion, Maarssen (Netherlands)

Sources

*Sillevis, John and Tabak, Anne, ''The Hague School Book'', Waanders Uitgegevers, Zwolle, 2004 (pp 341–346)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bock, Theophile De 1851 births 1904 deaths Hague School Painters from The Hague 19th-century Dutch painters Dutch male painters 20th-century Dutch painters 19th-century Dutch male artists 20th-century Dutch male artists