Passing Mother's Grave

Passing Mother's Grave or Langs Moeders Graf also known as Passing the Churchyard is an 1856 oil-on-canvas painting by Dutch artist Jozef Israëls. The subject of the painting is a widowed fisherman walking past his deceased wife's grave with his two children.

Passing Mother's Grave
Dutch: Langs Moeders Graf
ArtistJozef Israëls
Year1856 (1856)
MediumOil-on-canvas
MovementRealism (arts)
SubjectGrief
Dimensions274.5 cm (108.1 in) x 207.5 cm (81.7 in)
LocationStedelijk Museum Amsterdam

Early in his career, Israëls had been painting historical images; Passing Mother's Grave was his first work in the peasant genre. The painting was considered to be a masterpiece, and it was duplicated by the artist many times. Others also made prints of the painting.

The painting has been compared to The Stone Breakers by French realist painter Gustave Courbet. Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh liked the painting and compared it to the work of French painter Eugène Delacroix.

History

From 1844 to 1855 Israëls studied realism in Paris where he copied the work of Renaissance and Baroque master painters. He studied under Horace Vernet and Paul Delaroche who were adept in painting realist art. During this period Israëls also traveled to Düsseldorf Germany where he focused on the realism of German Romanticism.[1]

From 1855 to 1856 Israëls spent time in the fishing villages of Zandvoort and Katwijk where he observed the poor fishermen and their families. It was in these fishing villages that he observed the everyday life of peasants, and he began applying his training in realism to his paintings of peasants. In 1856 he painted Langs Moeders Graf which has a tragic theme.[1] Israëls stopped painting historical images during this period and Passing Mother's Grave is regarded as his first painting in the peasant genre.[2] It is considered by many, to be a Jozef Israëls's masterpiece. Dutch poet Nicolaas Beets is credited for naming the image "Passing Mother's Grave" in 1861.[3] In Mondriaan and the Hague School by Dutch painter Piet Mondrian, he refers to the painting as Passing the Churchyard.[4]

There are versions of the painting at the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam and The New Art Gallery Walsall in Walsall, England; at least one other version is known, sold to a private buyer in Vienna in 1907.[5] The Stedelijk museum version of the painting is dated 1857.[6] The version which is in The New Art Gallery Walsall is dated 1854 and is titled, The Widower (The Fisherman's Return).[7] [8] In 2008 one such copy titled Passing Mother's Tomb sold in Cologne, Germany at a Lempertz auction. The painting which was listed as an Israels painting 94 cm (37 in) x 71.5 cm (28.1 in) realized a sale price of €19200.[9]

Analysis
Detail from the Groningen statue

The painting in the collection of the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam is an oil-on-canvas painting with dimensions of 274.5 cm (108.1 in) x 207.5 cm (81.7 in).[10] It is a portrayal of a widower walking past the grave of his wife, with his young children. The three people in the image are all barefoot.[5] The man is a fisherman and he is holding a boy's hand and carrying a baby as he passes the headstone of his deceased wife.[11] The painting was an attempt by Israëls to move from his traditional subject matter of historical paintings, toward contemporary portrayals of peasant life.[2]

The color of the painting is nearly grey-brown and almost monochrome.[6] The sky in the painting is dark and ominous, but there is a sliver of blue sky which is thought to represent hope. The Rijksbureau voor Kunsthistorische Documentatie stated that the models which Israëls used for the image were Klaas Helweg and the two children of Hendrik Helweg.[5]

Reception
Gustave Courbet - The Stonebreakers - WGA05457

Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh counted the painting among his favorites. He was fascinated by the painting and compared it to the work of French painter Eugène Delacroix saying that he was taken in by the 'Delacroix-like technique.[8] In the book, Dutch Art: an Encyclopedia the authors stated that the painting documented, "...monumental treatment of the commonplace" and they said it was a "...milestone in 19th century realism in the Netherlands". They compared the painting to The Stone Breakers, an 1849 painting by French realist painter Gustave Courbet.[1]

The painting was seen as the beginning of the second period of Israëls's development.[1] Johannes Heinrich Rennefeld and Willem Steelink Jr. made prints of the painting on three occasions.[5] The painting is considered to be a milestone for 19th-century realism in the Netherlands.[1] Writing for Scribner's Magazine in 1912, Byron P. Stephenson (art critic of the New York Evening Post) noted that some people considered the work to be "one of Israëls's finest works" and others thought the sentiment in the painting was "cheap "mawkish".[11] H.E. van Gelder called the painting a "genuinely new moment and the obvious beginning of the second period of Israëls's development."[1]

There was a statue erected in honor of Israëls, in his hometown of Groningen. The statue is a depiction of the figures from this painting cast in bronze. The subject of the statue was selected because Passing Mother's Grave was Israëls's best-known work.[12]

References
  1. Dutch art: an encyclopedia. New York: Garland Pub. 1997. pp. 16, 195. ISBN 9781135495749. Archived from the original on 3 March 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  2. Dumas, Charles; Sillevis, John; de Leeuw, Ronald (1983). The Hague School: Dutch masters of the 19th century. London: Royal Academy of Arts, published in association with Weidenfeld and Nicolson. pp. 61, 120, 189, 190. ISBN 9780297780694. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  3. Israëls, Jozef (1999). Jozef Israëls, 1824-1911. Zwolle: Waanders. p. 140. ISBN 9789040094002.
  4. Mondrian, Piet (1980). Mondriaan and the Hague School Watercolours and Drawings from the Gemeentemuseum in the Hague. Manchester, England: Whitworth Art Gallery, University of Manchester. p. 10.
  5. "Passing Mother's Grave". Vads. The University for the Creative Arts. Archived from the original on 10 January 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  6. Novotny, Fritz (1960). Painting and Sculpture in Europe, 1780 to 1800. New York City: Penguin Books. p. 170. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
  7. "The Widower (The Fisherman's Return)". The New Art Gallery Walsall. The New Art Gallery Walsall. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  8. Leeuw, Ronald de (1997). Van Gogh Museum. Zwolle: Waanders. p. 100. ISBN 978-9040099281.
  9. "Jozef Israels - Passing Mother´s Tomb". Lemperetz. Lemperetz. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  10. "Langs Het Kerkhof/Langs Moeders Graf". Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  11. Dashiell, Alfred; Burlingame, Edward Livermore; Logan, Harlan; Bridges, Robert (1912). Scribner's Magazine (51 ed.). New York, New Yok: C. Scribner's sons. p. 128. Archived from the original on 3 March 2023. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  12. Verhoogt, Robert (2007). Art in Reproduction: Nineteenth-century Prints After Lawrence Alma-tadema, Jozef Israels and Ary Scheffer. Amsterdam University Press. p. 426. ISBN 978-90-5356-913-9. Archived from the original on 2023-03-03. Retrieved 2023-01-11.
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