Evert Moll - Sea view with figure on pier

Oil painting by the self-taught Evert Moll (1878-1955) who painted numerous river, sea and harbor views in the style of the Hague School. He also painted landscapes and cityscapes, often from or with a view of the water. He spent a lot of time on the waterfront where he made small-scale oil sketches and drawings that served as examples for the larger works that were created in his studio.
Moll made a striking number of paintings of piers and breakwaters, and the canvas on offer fits in wonderfully with this: it depicts a pier or breakwater, on which a figure stands against a background of seagulls above the sea, and is possibly a preliminary study of the much larger (100 x 60 cm) painting “Seascape with fishermen on a pier”, which was auctioned in 2013 at Vendu R'dam (last photo). The work is signed "Evert Moll" bottom left, and framed in a simple wooden, gilded frame.