View of Fish Market

About this artwork.

Jan van der Zee (1898 - 1988) was a painter and monumental artist and is one of the most talented painters of art society De Ploeg. He has been drawing since childhood and his art teacher at the HBS in Leeuwarden brought him into contact with Jan Mankes, with whom he took drawing lessons for some time. From 1919, Van der Zee was educated at the Minerva Academy in Groningen, where he was taught by, among others, F.H. Bach and Willem Valk. Van der Zee painted (gouache, oil) and watercolored landscapes, portraits, still lifes and cityscapes.

From 1928, Van der Zee increasingly set out to paint what would remain the most important theme for a long time: the landscape. They mainly arise in the region between the Reitdiep and the Boterdiep and near the Paterswoldsemeer. The work View of Fish Market from 1955 was commissioned by the municipality and the province for the Groningen entry for the exhibition “National Energy Manifestation E55” in Rotterdam in 1955. The painting is part of a five-part panel made by Jan van der Zee, but did not want to sign the works. Depicted is a farm; a reaper pulled by three horses; on the horizon a factory, tower and houses.

The panels have three different sizes. When the largest panel, the Farming, is placed centrally, to the left of the Fishmarket and to the right the Connection Canal, on the far left the Grote Markt and on the far right the Paterswoldsemeer, an impressive nearly five-metre-long suite is created in which many aspects characteristic of Groningen can be viewed positively and concisely portrayed. The grouping is not arbitrarily or solely chosen on the basis of dimensions. Repetition of and similarities in use of color in the panels positioned side by side in this way have also been taken into consideration, as well as compositional and stylistic features.

In 1965 Van der Zee received the Cultural Prize from the province of Groningen. Until his death in 1988 he was open to innovation and experiment. This is partly why he is considered one of the most important post-war artists in Groningen.

Facts & Figures.

• Artist(s)
  Jan van der Zee

• Year of creation
  1955

• Dimensions (in cm)
  78x98

• Collection
  Town Hall Collection

• Technic
  Acrylic