A wonderful pair of seascape paintings by Pieter Cornelis Dommersen. The first painting depicts the Goeser Veerhuis or Goes Ferry House on the left with the Dutch town of Goes in the distance. The ferry house was a popular landing stage for barges and fishing boats. Goes church, with its distinctive spire can be seen in the far distance. The second painting is of Elburg, a fishing port on the east shore of the Zuiderzee in the Dutch province of Gelderland. Dommersen often returned to these areas to paint when he travelled back to the Netherlands and these fine examples were most likely painted on one of these trips.

Pieter Cornelis Dommersen was born Pieter Cornelis Dommershuizen or Dommerhershuisen on 6 December, 1833 in Utrecht, Holland. Little is known about his father and he appears to have been brought up solely by his mother Cornelia into an artistic family. His younger brother was the artist Cornelis Christian Dommersen (1842-1928). His mother and other brother Thomas later became friends with Lawrence Alma-Tadema when he visited Holland.

Dommersen made his debut in 1853 exhibiting at galleries in The Hague, Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Having already established himself as an artist specialising in marine and coastal scenes he made the decision to move to England in 1855 with his brother Cornelis. He anglicised the family name to Dommersen as a matter of convenience, but although he became a British subject, this was never changed by deed poll.

He married Anna Petronella Sijnja, from Amsterdam on 29 January 1859 and together they had 4 children. His eldest son William Raymond Dommersen (1859-1927) became a marine and landscape artist. The family initially lived in the Brixton area of London before moving to Hackney. He continued to exhibit in Holland but from 1865 exhibited at the Royal Academy, Royal Society of British Artists and the British Institution. He also exhibited at other smaller galleries including the Old Bond Street Gallery.

By 1881, Dommersen had moved to the East End area of London living at Buxton Road in West Ham. However, by the turn of the century he had moved to 3 Woodlands Road in Leytonstone where he spent some considerable time. Although he based himself in England, he also travelled extensively around Europe to Belgium, Holland, France and was often accompanied by his son on his painting trips. Dommersen died in Hexham, Northumberland on 18 November 1918.

Examples of his paintings can be found at the Amsterdam Museum, Brighton & Hove Museum, The Hague Museum, Northampton Museum, Rotterdam Museum, Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and the Utrecht Museum.

© Benton Fine Art