Contact gallery for price		Evert Pieters 1856 – active in Amsterdam – after 1886 A Fisherman with his Net Oil on canvas 21 x 15 inches (53 x 38 cm) Signed: E. Pieters Evert Pieters began his art career taking drawing classes at the Royal Academy for Fine Arts in Antwerp and quietly painting on the side.  When one of his works caught the eye of landscape artist, Theodoor Verstraete, Pieters became a temporary pupil and then began focusing on landscapes.  Although Pieters is Dutch, his style is sometimes characterized as Flemish because of his early training in Antwerp and in Brasschaat with Verstraete.  Pieters painted landscapes, marines, natural figures, portraits, and interiors for which he is known as one of the most important painters of Gooise interior scenes.  Evert Pieters is most enjoyed for his colorful and impressionistic scenes of the beach and fishing life.           Our painting presents a figure wading through the shallow ocean waters close to shore.  The viewer is told that this figure is a fisherman- he grasps a long net and wears a dark knitted hat as he scours the water for fish.  The glowing sliver of the moon reflecting off the water’s surface lights his path.  The artist's touch is sensitive, despite the loose, almost sketchy brushwork.  Pieters describes the figure with a distinct thoughtfulness, apparent in the artist's handling of the figure's posture.  While his face is hidden, the viewer can sense the fisherman's intent focus through his hunched back and clutched hands.  The sea is depicted with a similar sensitivity to the somber mood and atmosphere of the ocean at night. Indeed, while the painting presents a striking portrait, it is equally successful as a landscape.  Pieters deftly captures the dark elegance of the nighttime sea, freeing his brushstrokes and juxtaposing particular hues and values to create a watery, atmospheric impression.