Misty Sea

Jan Toorop

1899

oil on canvas

Rijksmuseum

A hazy landscape depicts a field with tire tracks leading towards a distant sea. A figure is visible in the distance on the right, and two animals, possibly dogs, are in the foreground. This work is painted in the Pointillist style, the basic principle of which is creating an optical effect through the application of hundreds of small dots of pure unmixed pigment that are perceived by the viewer’s eye as variegated mixed colours. The light ground shining through between the dots lends the picture luminosity. In this way, Toorop obtained the effect of translucency in this mysterious, tenuous seascape.