Cees van Waning

Cees van Waning (1861–1929) Cornelis Anthonij van Waning, known as Kees or Cees van Waning, was born in The Hague in 1861 and died there in 1929. He trained initially in drawing and subsequently received instruction from Fridolin Becker, J.M. Schmidt Crans and, most importantly, Johannes Bosboom; Willem Maris later offered artistic advice. Van Waning worked in The Hague, Voorburg and Rijswijk and travelled for study in Belgium and France. He was associated with the Hague artists’ society Pulchri Studio and with Arti et Amicitiae in Amsterdam.

Van Waning is chiefly recognised for landscapes, river and harbour views, cityscapes and marine subjects. His preference for working from nature connects him with the later Hague School, while his increasingly impressionistic handling is evident in his vigorous brushwork, luminous colour and attention to changing atmospheric effects. His compositions often set shipping, quays, shorelines or architecture against broad expanses of water and sky, giving light a structural role. His drawings, including black-chalk studies of Enkhuizen, Dieppe and harbour shipping in the Rijksmuseum, reveal the importance of direct observation and assured draughtsmanship.