Willem Roelofs (10 March 1822 – 12 May 1897) was a Dutch painter, water-colourist, etcher, lithographer and draughtsman. Roelofs was one of the forerunners of the Dutch Revival art, after the Romantic Classicism of the beginning of the 19th century, which led to the formation of The Hague school. His landscapes, especially the early ones with their dominating cloudy skies, demure bodies of water and populated with cattle, are typical for the School of Barbizon.

Biography

Willem Roelofs was born in Amsterdam on 10 March 1822. When he was a young man his family moved to Utrecht, where his father became an enlisted member of the Painters and Draughtsman Society in Utrecht, and received lessons from the artist Abraham Hendrik Winter. In June 1839, they moved to The Hague so that the young Willem could study in the Academy for Visual Arts in that city and train in the atelier of Hendrik van de Sande Bakhuyzen. In 1847, he was involved in the establishment of the artists society “The Hague Pulchri Studio”. In 1847, he left The Hague rather suddenly and went to live in Brussels where he remained until 1887. From 1866 up to 1869, he trained Hendrik Willem Mesdag, who would develop into one of the masters of The Hague school. His other students were Paul Gabriël, Frans Smissaert,

Willem de Famars Testas Willem de Famars Testas (1834, Utrecht – 1896, Arnhem), was a 19th-century Dutch painter, draughtsman, etcher and illustrator noted for his Orientalist paintings and drawings. Biography According to the RKD, he learned to paint from J ...

and

Alexander Mollinger Godard Alexander Gerrit Philip Mollinger (8 March 1836, Utrecht - 14 September 1867, Utrecht) was a Dutch landscape and genre painter. Although he signed his paintings "A. Mollinger", some sources refer to him as Gerrit Mollinger. Biography ...

. In 1850, he was captivated by Barbizon in the

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau (; ) is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the ''arrondissement ...

area of France. He returned there twice, in 1852 and 1855. He helped with the foundation of the Societé Belge Aquarellistes in Brussels in 1856. He unmistakably provided the spiritual impulse for the painters of nature that would later dominate The Hague school. Beside painting, he also occupied himself with

entomology Entomology () is the science, scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such ...

, where he specialised in beetles. He published about them in scientific illustrated magazines and identified them for the museum of natural history in Leiden (the current

Naturalis Naturalis Biodiversity Center ( nl, Nederlands Centrum voor Biodiversiteit Naturalis) is a national museum of natural history and a research center on biodiversity in Leiden, Netherlands. It was named the European Museum of the Year 2021. Alth ...

). In 1855, he founded the Belgian association for entomology, of which he became president in 1878. His extensive collection of

Curculionidae The Curculionidae are a family of weevils, commonly called snout beetles or true weevils. They are one of the largest animal families, with 6,800 genera and 83,000 species described worldwide. They are the sister group to the family Brentidae. T ...

became the basis of the entomological collection of beetles in the Natuurhistorisch Museum in Brussels. On his advice, Vincent van Gogh matriculated in autumn 1880 in Brussels. Roelofs died in

Berchem Berchem () is a southern Districts of Antwerp, district of the municipality and city of Antwerp in the Flemish Region of Belgium. Berchem is located along the old ''Grote Steenweg'' (Dutch language, Dutch for 'Big Paved Road') that has connected ...

Paintings

File:River landscape, by Willem Roelofs.jpg, W. Roelofs, ''River landscape'', 1842, oil on wooden panel, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag File:Willem Roelofs07.jpg, W. Roelofs, ''Landscape in an Approaching Storm'', 1850, oil on canvas,

Rijksmuseum The Rijksmuseum () is the national museum of the Netherlands dedicated to Dutch arts and history and is located in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough of Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the St ...

File:Willem Roelofs - Boomrijk landschap met stenen brug over een rivier.jpg, W. Roelofs, ''Wooded Landscape with Stone Bridge over a River'', 1852, watercolor on paper File:Willem Roelofs 001.jpg, W. Roelofs, ''Landscape with Trees and Water'', c. 1855, oil on wooden panel File:In 't Gein.jpg, W. Roelofs, ''In 't Gein'', c. 1860, oil-painting, in Teylers Museum File:SA 698-Landschap te Oosterbeek-Landschap met vee (provincie Gelderland).jpg, W. Roelofs, ''Landscape with cattle near Oosterbeek'', 1867, oil on canvas, Amsterdam Museum File:Willem Roelofs - The rainbow - Google Art Project.jpg, W. Roelofs, ''The Rainbow'', 1875, oil on canvas, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag File:Willem Roelofs - Weidelandschap met vee.jpg, W. Roelofs, ''Pasture landscape with cattle'', c. 1880, oil on canvas, Rijksmuseum File:Willem Roelofs - Boerenerf bij Noorden.jpg, W. Roelofs, ''Farm near the village

Noorden Noorden is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Nieuwkoop, and lies about 10 km north of Woerden Woerden () is a city and a municipality in central Netherlands. Due to its central location ...

'', c. 1880-85, oil on panel, Rijksmuseum File:Willem Roelofs - Plas bij Loosdrecht.jpg, W. Roelofs, ''Morning atmosphere - Pond near

Loosdrecht Loosdrecht () is a town in the municipality of Wijdemeren, North Holland North Holland ( nl, Noord-Holland, ) is a province of the Netherlands in the northwestern part of the country. It is located on the North Sea, north of South Holland ...

'' (early morning) 1887, oil on canvas, Rijksmuseum

References

External links

* *
biography notes and dates of Willem Roelofs
in the Dutch Archive R.K.D. in The Hague
Overview of his works at the Nunspeet Museum website

55 images of paintings by Willem Roelofs
on 'The Atheneum'
180 free images of Roelofs' paintings, drawings and prints
in the Rijksstudio of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam {{DEFAULTSORT:Roelofs, Willem 1822 births 1897 deaths Hague School 19th-century Dutch painters Dutch male painters Painters from Amsterdam 19th-century Dutch male artists