19th Century 'Tom Tom' Looking for a Way

EDE, The Netherlands, May 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The 19th century artist Jan Bedijs Tom (1813-1894), a pupil of Andreas Schelfhout, is one of the finest painters of livestock of Dutch Romanticism. The Dutch fine art gallery Simonis & Buunk has two of his paintings of livestock for sale, which being of the same size and having been painted in similar colours are actually companion pieces. These are panels entitled Cattle Grazing and Sheep and Goat in a Meadow. The pair of paintings by Tom, otherwise known as 'Tom Tom', are looking in the 21st century to find a way - to a new owner.

Dutch Romanticism

Romanticism flourished in the first half of the 19th century. The romantic attitude to life, in which emotion, desire and fantasy played a major role, was a reaction to the rational thinking of 18th century Enlightenment. The romantic leaning towards an idolised past and the glorification of the splendours of nature manifests itself both in political and social fields as well as in music, painting and literature. Dutch Romanticism was distinguished by a harking back to 17th century art and, as someone once described, to a 'small amount of joy and a small amount of sorrow' and to beauty in the commonplace. This led to a great variety of landscapes, seascapes, city views, livestock and genre works by masters of the Koekkoek painting family (B.C. Koekkoek was the best known), Arnoldus Bloemers, Cornelis Springer, Andreas Schelfhout, Wouterus Verschuur and Charles Leickert among others.

Romanticism at the Hermitage

At the end of 2010 the Russian art-loving public acquainted themselves with Dutch romantic painting when the Jef Rademaker's Collection was shown in five rooms of the Winter Palace of the Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg, as part of the exhibition 'Through the Romanticist's Eyes'. One of the top works of the exhibition was Activity on the Edge of a Forest in Winter by J.B. Klombeck and E.J. Verboeckhoven from the Simonis & Buunk collection.

Art for all tastes

Simonis & Buunk is located in Ede, in Central Netherlands. The gallery's varied collection comprises some 2,500 paintings and watercolours by 19th and 20th century Dutch masters. The works are displayed in three spacious premises on Notaris Fischerstraat. The emphasis of the 19th century collection is on Romanticism and Impressionism of The Hague and Amsterdam Schools. The 20th century is represented with work by the Neo-Impressionists, Luminists, Classical Modernists, Expressionists, Realists and Post-War Abstractionists. The painting collection is complemented by a sculpture collection installed in the garden and the three galleries.

SOURCE Simonis & Buunk