6 Artists Magazine April 2020
Prime ANATOMY OF A PAINTING
e
gmondis a village—actually
threevillages,nowpartofthe
municipalityofBergen—situ-
atednearAmsterdamandoverlooking
theNorthSea.Historically,Egmond
wasboundtoitsfishingindustryuntil
it becamea seasidespainthelate19th
century.Itsgreatestclaimis thatRené
Descartes,thephilosopherandmathe-
matician,settledthereinthe1630s
afterhistheorieswerecondemned
bytheUniversityofUtrecht.
Whateveritsattractionfor
Descartes,Egmonddoesn’tseemto
havecaughtonasa creativeretreat
foranother 250 years,whena couple
ofAmericanpainterschoseit asthe
siteofanartcolony.GeorgeHitchcock
(1850–1913)movedthereintheearly
1880sandwasfollowedsoonthere-
afterbyGariMelchers(1860–1932).
BothwereengagedbyHolland’s
culture,peopleandlandscape.Each
wasinfluencedbytheHagueSchool,
a groupofNetherlandishartists
whosepaintingswerecharacterized
bysubduedcolors.
AlthoughHitchcockstudiedwith
a leadingartistoftheHagueSchool,
hedepartedfromthemovement’s
graypalette.Oneartcriticwrote,
“GeorgeHitchcockwasa pioneerin
paintingthegentlesunlightandthe
changingatmosphereofHolland.
Ifnottheveryfirsttorevealthese
thingsinmoderncolors,atleast
hewasthefirsttoputuponcanvas
thegreatfieldsofflowers.”Notquite.AccordingtoarthistorianFred
Leeman,Hitchcockbeganpainting
Holland’stulipfieldsonlyafterMonet
didsoduringa briefvisitin1886.
Hitchcock’sFlowerGirlinHolland,
paintedin1887,isa stylisticcom-
promise.Theatmosphereandcolor
area nodtoImpressionism,while
thehandlingofspecificelements
indicateshisacademictraining.
Hitchcock’seducationasanartist
wasa belatedendeavor.Bornin
Providence,R.I.,hefollowedfamily
traditionbypreparingfora career
inlaw,graduatingfromHarvardin
1874.Histruetalentslayelsewhere,
however,andwithina fewyearshe
wasstudyingartinLondon,andthen
intheHague,ParisandDüsseldorf.
HesettledinEgmond,where
Americanartistscametostudy
withhim.Establishedartistsvisited,
too;a smallwatercolorportraitof
HitchcockbyJohnSingerSargentwas
probablypaintedthere.Eventually,
thevillagebecametoofashionable,
andHitchcockmovedtoa houseboat,
whichhenamed,aptly,Tulip.Jerry N. Weiss is a contributing writer
to art magazines and teaches at the
Art Students League of New York.Light and
Loveliness
GEORGE HITCHCOCK was enthralled by fi elds
of fl owers on the Netherlandish coast.by Jerry N. WeissDrawinga contrastbetweenthe
HagueSchoolandhisownwork,
Hitchcockstated,“Inevercould
make out why artists should
shun light and loveliness.”Flower Girl in Holland
by George Hitchcock
1887; oil on canvas, 31⅛x
ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO