Nº 66
Reading edition
Hendrik Willem Mesdag DUTCH: 1831-
EARLY MORNING
Height, 20 inches; width, 16 inches
In the near foreground a Dutch fishing boat is anchored in the shallow, gently rippling water near the beach, presumably at some Dutch fishing port. Various members of the crew are standing at the stern, watching two of their companions wading toward the vessel, with the water up to their hips. The shimmering waves of the quiet sea lead the eye away to the distant horizon, the line of which is broken by a few fishing craft. Light clouds drift upward toward the zenith, tinged with the rosy light of dawn, and here and there a few sea-gulls flutter high above the water.
Signed at the lower right, H. W. Mesdag.
Collection of the late George I. Seney, New York, 1894.