Haven van Enkhuizen 1871 - 1929

Kees van Waning made this pencil drawing, Haven van Enkhuizen, sometime between the late 19th and early 20th century. It depicts a Dutch harbor and evokes the period’s artistic and social crosscurrents. Holland, though a small country, had a vast overseas empire, and Dutch artists often focused on the busy harbors that were crucial for trade. In this drawing, Waning seems less interested in the specifics of Enkhuizen than in capturing a generalized image of Dutch industriousness. However, the loose sketch-like quality of the drawing sets it apart from the detailed realism favored by many Dutch painters. It seems to align Waning with the international movement of Impressionism, whose focus on light and atmosphere would inspire artists to loosen their brushwork and embrace the incomplete sketch as a finished work of art. To understand such crosscurrents, we must consider both the local and the global.