Tramways opened up the access to villages all over the Netherlands, however there were also certain down-sides. Such artists villages were almost too accessible and rapidly suburbanized communties, such as Scheveningen. Artists based in The Hague could easily pop to the coast, paint and be back for supper. Urban and suburban situations do not encourage the essential bonding implicit in rural artists’ colonies. In addition, there was a tendency to trivialize or make superficial observations about what they found. Nevertheless, artists, buyers, editors and patrons of the arts were excited by the fresh images of the countryside and the regions. This was still a time when the concept of the nation-state was developing and artists found that images of the special stoic character of fishermen and their families found a wider resonance. One of the most significant advances, on the technical side of the art profession, was undoubtedly the improvement and packaging of oil paints. The increase in the ready-made market of artists’ materials and equipment greatly liberated professional painters from the confines of their studios and now made the creative process available to all. ‘The collapsible metallic tube for oil colours’ was first patented in 1841 and perfected over the following decade. It revolutionized paint manufacturing by improving the quality and helped widen the range of colours, as never before. The flexible alloy tube enabled artists to paint en-plein air and work in villages for longer periods. It certainly liberated them from the tedium of mixing paints themselves and it allowed specialist chemists to blend in reliable additives, rather than rely on local pharmacists. One entrepreneur in Volendam, Bruen Sul, began to sell tubed paints and equipment in his shop from 1905. It is also known that Paul Signac received tubed paints by post when he was travelling, from at least 1894, including during his stays in St. Tropez and Volendam. There are some amusing stories of artists arriving with an excess of equipment, especially one of an American woman artist, by John Hardwick in 1913. This caricature illustrates a number of trends, not only the success of readymade market but also the ease of their use by women and amateurs in particular. There are a few photographs of the earliest Volendam artists working en-plein air. One shows Sluiter painting on the harbourside while another shows Jan Rinke in 1900 at his easel, outside, in a suit and bowler hat, although this looks somewhat posed. There were push and pull affects with certain technological innovations too. Perhaps, the most profound shock hit the art profession when photography was gradually perfected after the 1840s. Portraiture was the first to suffer, especially those that specialised in miniatures. By the 1880s we see the appearance of professional art photographers in Dutch artists’ colonies. 86
Linker pagina Georg Hering (1884-1936), Portret ’t Jagertje, 1912 pastel, 48 x 42 cm Collectie Spaander, Volendam Zie ook pagina 70-71 en 90 Rechter pagina Hans von Bartels (1856-1913), Botters op de Zuiderzee gouache, 49 x 36,5 cm Collectie Tandheelkundig Centrum Volendam