Label Type
Cultural/Historical ContextLabel
"Entrance to the Zuider Zee, Texel Island
Etching
8 1/2 x 6 3/8 in.
Inscribed at bottom of print:
R. Kent Thomas, Entrance to the Zuider Zee, (Texel Island)
1877
Acc. No. 1990.15.04
Robert Kent Thomas was born in London in 1816, and he worked as a sketcher, painter, and printmaker from
1843 to 1883. Most of Kent Thomas’s prints are images of buildings and landscapes located in various parts of
Europe, especially Great Britain and France. The present print, representing a landscape in Holland, is special
in his oeuvre. Kent Thomas died in 1883 and is remembered as a skilled 19th-century etcher. In this print, the
initials “RK”, which seem to mirror each other, appear in the bottom left corner.
The etching depicts the arrival of vessels in the North Sea at an inlet off the coast of Holland. Zuider Zee, a
Dutch term meaning “southern sea”, was formerly a lake which over time became flooded to form a large inlet
of the North Sea. This body of water is about 50 kilometers wide and four to five meters deep. The coastline
around the inlet is approximately 300 kilometers long, and adjacent to the inlet is Texel Island. People of the
towns in and around this area relied on fishing and light industry for a living. The entrance to the Zuider Zee
was closed by a dam in 1932.
The print realistically shows people working on vessels of all sizes as they arrive at Texel Island, with waves of
the sea also represented and a fishing net visible in the lower left corner. Another figure, apparently a farmer,
appears working on the nearby land. Kent Thomas uses techniques of hatching, varied line work, and chiaroscuro
throughout the work, and more than half of the print consists of the sky. The foreground is darkened,
creating a dramatic effect.
Alison Obermeyer"