Wood Collector in the Dunes near Ter Heijde aan Zee with the tower of the Hervormde Kerk in Monster

Salomon Leonardus Verveer 1813 - 1876

Summary

Likely to be a late work by the artist, this landscape in the dunes is thought to have been painted just outside the village of Ter Heijde aan Zee, south of The Hague, with the tower of the Hervormde Kerk in Monster in the background. The red roofs of the village are echoed in russet vegetation to the right, where a man is collecting firewood. Smoke rises from the chimney of a nearby cottage, whose door faces him, seeming to connect him with the life inside. The heavy clouds and the water standing in the ruts left by carts in the dirt road indicate recent rain. Despite being prominent in the foreground in his blue jacket, the man is quite insignificant in the broad expanse of low-lying landscape. The path leads in a broad sweep straight past him, curving left between the dunes to point directly at the church, whose significance is evident in the substantial tower dominating the horizon. Verveer studied with Bartholomeus Johannes van Hove (1790-1880) and at the Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten in The Hague. He is known mainly for his townscapes, especially of Jewish districts, but he also produced river and coastal scenes.