Dirk Meesters 1899-1950

Dirk Meesters 1899–1950

Diederik “Dirk” Meesters was a Dutch painter and draughtsman, born in The Hague on 8 January 1899 and deceased in Amsterdam on 15 January 1950. He trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rotterdam from 1914 to 1916, and subsequently worked in The Hague, Dordrecht, Heerlen, Heemstede and Amsterdam. Meesters is best recognised for rural genre scenes in which horses and cattle occupy a central role: stable interiors, farm work, horses at pasture or watering, and horse-drawn carts. He also painted landscapes with livestock, shell fishermen on the coast, and portraits. His work is generally naturalist-realistic, combining close observation of animals and figures with a strong feeling for atmosphere.