The famous marine painter Hendrik Willem Mesdag and his wife Sientje were major art collectors with their own museum. The 19th century art can still be admired in the same place.
From 1866 onwards, the Mesdags built up an exceptional collection of painters they admired. The focus is formed by the French Barbizon School and the Hague School. The Barbizon collection is even the largest and most important outside France. Hendrik Willem Mesdag collected applied art to decorate his house and his museum. For example, he bought a lot of ceramics from Theodoor Colenbrander and Japanese vases and other exotic objects.
