Recenly, a very small watercolour painting, five centimeter by three centimeter, was discovered in the national archive in The Hague, the Netherlands.
The newly discovered painting is by Hendrik Willem Mesdag (23 February 1831 – 10 July 1915). He made it in 1854 for his fiancee (later: his wife), Sina van Houten, also a painter.
On the back of the watercolour, Hendrik Willem wrote a poem for Sina.
The words of the poem are (translated):
Thoughts are not subject to laws;
therefore; think of the
maker of this; as often as ye will take up this sheet.Gron[ingen], July 1854
H W Mesdag
Hendrik Willem Mesdag and Sina van Houten are most famous for painting the very big Panorama Mesdag. So, this very small work is a bit of a surprise.
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