Notes

Painter Constant David Ludovic Artz was born on June 3, 1870 in Paris. He died on
February 23, 1951 in Soestdijk (province of Utrecht). In addition to being a painter,
Constant was also a watercolorist, copyist, art dealer and art teacher.

Constant Artz is a son of painter David Adolph Constant Artz (1837-1890) and Hélène
Artz-Schemel (1850-1907). His father was a well-known artist from the Hague School and
Japonism movement. Constant was born in 1870 in Paris, where many Dutch artists lived
at the time. His father shared a studio there with painters Otto Franz Scholderer (1834-
1902) and Willem Maris (1844-1910). In this period his father often exhibited paintings
with the painter Frederik Hendrik Kaemmerer (1839-1902).

In 1874 the Artz family moved to The Hague. Constant turned out to have an artistic
talent at a young age. At the age of twelve he was enrolled at the Royal Academy of Art in
The Hague. In 1899 he became an apprentice to Tony Offermans (1854-1911). He also
received advice from his father Adolph Artz, Willem Maris and from Hendrik Willem
Mesdag (1831-1915).

Paintings of ducks
Like his father, Constant was fascinated by nature. He painted many landscapes with mills
and seascapes. In addition to these genre scenes, he also painted cityscapes and still lifes.
Presumably under the influence of Willem Maris, Constant concentrated on Dutch
landscapes with ducks by water. In the nineteenth century, these scenes attracted great
public interest. With a smooth, impressionistic touch, he painted ducks with their chicks
in all their ways. Constant was a master at incorporating sun and light effects into his
work and had a great sense of color. His paintings, often small in size, are notable for
their friendly appearance and are still in demand. Constant signed his work with
“Constant Artz”.

Watercolorist
His professional period starts from around 1899 until his death in 1951. In addition to
being a painter, Constant was also a very skilled watercolourist. He mainly copied
watercolors by artists of the Hague School. The subjects Constant painted are animal
depictions (genre), landscapes (genre), seascapes (genre), cityscapes and still lifes. Several
museums own work by Constant Artz.

After Paris, Constant lived in The Hague 1874-1885, Soestdijk 1885 – 1926, Katwijk aan
Zee 1926 – 1931 and then in Soestdijk. He taught painter Leendert Scheltema (1876-
1966).