The Hague School was a group of 19th century artists based in and around The Hague in the Netherlands who sought to capture the essence of country life and scenery by observing nature directly, outdoors. Informed by the traditions inherited from the masters of the Dutch Golden Age, the Hague School artists created works genuinely expressing the Dutch temperament and the beauty of the Dutch landscape.

The development of the Hague School was significantly influenced by the Barbizon School, a contemporaneous group of French artists who aspired toward truthful, honest portrayals of nature and rural life. The Hague School artists developed their unique artistic styles by learning from the traditional naturalism of their homegrown masters, as well as from the modern naturalism practiced by the Barbizon School. This resulted in quintessentially Dutch sceneries—canals, windmills, grazing cattle, shimmering bodies of water, lofty bright skies, wide oceans, everyday labor and humble domestic life—imbued with unmatched quietude and poetry.

Assembled primarily from the collection of the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, this exhibition was the first full-scale presentation in Japan of the Hague School, which counts among the most important European art movements. The exhibition also featured works by Vincent van Gogh and Piet Mondrian, two Dutch artists who during their early careers gained inspiration from the Hague School, and went on to develop artistic styles that revolutionized the history of painting not just in their own country but across the world.

Exhibits :

• About 70 works

Catalogue texts :

• Ann Dumas
• Benno Tempel
• Hans Janssen
• Yoshiyuki Furutani

Lenders :

• Gemeentemuseum Den Haag
• Kröller-Müller Museum
• Other public and private lenders

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Jan Hendrik Weissenbruch
The Trekvliet
1870
Oil on canvas
Collection Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague, The Netherlands