A rare Continental work by this favourite 'Australian' artist.
Jan Hendrik Scheltema was born in The Hague in 1861. He had artistic aspirations from a young age, and was able to learn from several well known artists in the Netherlands and Belgium. He recieved a scolarship 1880-84 from King William III of the Netherlands, and attended THe Royal Accademy of Art, The Hague. Later he was at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium. Interestingly, he was predominantly a portrait painter during these early years.
He arrived in Melbourne in 1888, and was recieved as an aculplished artist. Joining the Victorian Artist’s Society allowed him to exhibit with the leading artists of the day – Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton, Charles Condor and Frederick McCubbin. In particular, he came to befriend the artist Charles Rolando, entering his studio at a time when his health was failing and helping him complete comissions and teach his art classes.
Scheltema had a prolific output, and his paintings were very popular with the public. He adapted happily to the Australian artworld, which was hungry for bush landscapes and scenes of the agricultural transformation of Victoria by the hard-working pioneers. Somehow he made the struggle in the harsh Australian bush to be a serene and noble enterprise. He became particularly known for his life-like cows – ‘Scheltema’s Cows’ became a term used by art enthusiasts.
A Continental scene like this one stands out amongst the gum-trees and cows, and illustrates his origins in Holland – in the late 19th century, the European ‘homeland’ was a familiar concept as the vast majority of the population had been born outside Australia.
This painting was painted ‘plein air‘, on the banks of the canal at Veere. by examining Scheltema’s travels, we can pinpoint the date for this work.
The scene is surprisingly similar today – the historic heart of Veere, with the Stadhuis (Town Hall) tower peeking over the trees, and shipping along the shore – although the fishing boats are gone, replaced by pleasure craft.
Scheltema is recorded as ‘going home’ on two occasions, and having an exhibition in Melbourne on his return.
One was in 1911, when the Punch reported “….
An earlier exhibition was held in 1899. The Age reports:
While it mentions ‘studies of the old town of Veere’, we can be confident that it is from this first visit, 1898-99.
Moorabool Aucctions upcoming sale,
Estimate $3,000 – 4,000
Auction 2nd November
Resources
- 1899 ‘The Age’ article mentioning (probably) this painting:
- “ART NOTES.” The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 – 1954) 8 April 1899: <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article189688019>.
