River Landscape with Anglers

Fishing scenes have been popular in Dutch art since the Golden Age prints of Rembrandt and Ostade. In the 19th century they became an important subgenre in painting as well. Here, fishermen on shore are accompanied by a boatman. Trees, a sailboat and a distant castle together draw the eye along the meandering river.

A watercolorist and lithographer as well as a painter, Johannes Hilverdink was mainly a painter of landscapes and ocean scenes. His wide travels included a trip to Greenland, with its extreme climate and stormy seas. He became a member of the Royal Art Academy in Amsterdam in 1852, the institution where he had earlier trained.