Hendrik Willem Mesdag (1831-1915), Arriving bomschuiten, oil on canvas, 50x37,5 cm, Provenance:-Collection Mr G. Ridderhof, The Hague, Zeestraat 52/53 (according to a label attached to the stretcher).-Collection Pittsburgh, USA., signed and dated `HW Mesdag 1903` (lower right), For The Hague School painter Hendrik Willem Mesdag, the sea, the fishing world and everything connected to this subject were a constant source of inspiration. By painting these subjects he captured a part of the history of the Scheveningen fishing industry. There has been no other painter who concentrated solely on the Scheveningen vessel, known as the bomschuit, in full action. Mesdag captured these vessels leaving the coast, struggling to sail in the wind, on the high seas with fierce currents, or approaching the coast - there was no harbour in Scheveningen at that time - at great speed with strong winds behind. On the cover of the catalog raisonné by Johan Poort the painting `Return of the fishing vessels` (1897) is illustrated. The sky is grey and cloudy, the waves in soft grey and white tones. We also see the return of the vessels in the painting ‘Arriving bomschuiten’ now up for auction. The inscription `SCH`, on the mainsail of the ship on the right with the white sails, shows that it is a Scheveningen fishing vessel. An experienced sailor can deduce from the position of the sails that the boat - before the wind - is approaching its final destination. The sailors are in the process of regulating speed, braking as it were. In order not to turn transversely, both sails - the jib and the mainsail - are reduced. The jib is lowered sufficiently to catch the wind; the gaff of the mainsail is also lowered . When this work was painted, in 1903, Mesdag was already well established in the national and international art world of his time. He was awarded the Order of Orange-Nassau by Queen Wilhemina. Until his death in 1915 he would visit the sea almost daily to seek inspiration for his paintings, also in his later years when the coast had dramatically changed due to industrialisation. The present painting provides the opportunity to revisit the natural beauty of the North Sea prior to its many changes.