Johan Frederik Cornelis Scherrewitz (Amsterdam, 18 March 1868 – Hilversum, 9 August 1951) was a Dutch painter and watercolourist, best known for his landscapes and beach scenes, often with figures and animals. He is considered to be part of the "late flowering" of the Hague School, a movement within Dutch painting that focused on realistic representations of the Dutch landscape.
Scherrewitz was born as the son of an Amsterdam stockbroker and was initially destined to follow in his father's footsteps. However, he felt no affinity with the profession and resisted that future. As he later told his biographer Henri van Calker: "I really didn't feel like it." After some insistence, he was eventually given permission to take drawing lessons on Sunday afternoons with teacher Veltens, and later he also received some lessons from the painter Geo Poggenbeek. When his father realized that a career in stock trading was not for him, Scherrewitz was allowed to devote himself entirely to painting. Armed with his talent, he began his artistic wanderings through the Netherlands.
In 1898, Scherrewitz moved to Laren for a while, later to Hilversum, but he felt less attracted to the polders. He preferred forest landscapes, such as those of Brabant, the Veluwezoom and the Lage Vuursche, where he regularly painted during his many excursions. The coast of the North Sea was also a popular subject. His painting style remained true to the Hague School throughout his life, with a special preference for autumnal colors. Scherrewitz painted simple people, such as shepherds with sheep, fishermen with boats and farmers with their cattle. He depicted them with great love and respect, so that they almost seemed to become one with the surrounding nature.
Success and recognition Although Scherrewitz was not well-known in the Netherlands, he was very successful abroad, especially in the United States, England and Scotland, where the Hague School was still appreciated. His work was so popular there that it was sometimes difficult to keep up with the demand. Because interest in the Hague School declined sharply in the Netherlands after 1914, Scherrewitz made little effort to exhibit or sell his work in his own country. However, he remained highly regarded among artists, despite his relative obscurity among the general Dutch public, however typically Dutch his themes were.
Death and legacy Johan Scherrewitz died in 1951 at the age of 83. His work can be admired in the Rijksmuseum Twenthe in Enschede, among other places.
