Willem Roelofs

Kunstschilder Willem Roelofs

Willem Roelofs, Amsterdam, 1822 - 1897

Together with Israëls, Willem Roelofs was a pioneer of the new movement. While living in Brussels through exhibitions he was introduced early on to the work of the Barbizon painters and in 1852 decided to go there himself. He seems he didn’t need the example of Barbizon in order to travel to Drenthe. He won a gold medal at the Brussels Salon in 1848 for his landscape in Drenthe.

Nothing more is known about his journey in that period than this one painting. The trips he took with his friend and pupil Alexander Mollinger to Drenthe and Zweeloo in 1861 and 1863 are better documented, however, with several place indications given on drawings and paintings.