A Polder Landscape with a Farm at Dusk

As the sun wanes in the background, a woman finishes her work at a waterside farmstead. De Bock restricts his palette to the darkest hues for brick and grass, and the trees silhouetted against the sky have only the slightest tinge of green. Such subtlety was prized by artists of the Hague School.

Praised by Vincent van Gogh, Theophile de Bock began his artistic career after leaving his work as a railway official. A native of the Hague, he was first taught by the Dutch artists Borsselen and Weissenbruch before moving to the French village of Fontainebleau for two years. After his return to the Hague, he still travelled regularly to the countryside for inspiration, especially to Drenthe and Gelderland.