1.1 Icon: Willem Mesdag
Hendrik Willem Mesdag (1831-1915) was the main painter and also owner of the painting Panorama Mesdag.
Around mid-19th century, panoramic paintings were a true spectacle and thrill for audiences. The large circular painting, displayed in a specially designed cylindrical building, gave the audience a never-seen-before illusion of being immersed in an environment. The optical illusion plays with vantage point and horizon and is aided by some small decor so one cannot see the bottom, and a small roof to hide the top. Before cinemas this was a truly popular medium for the masses.
Willem Mesdag created the only Dutch Panorama depicting Scheveningen's beach. He received the commission on 1880 and after initial sketches and research, completed the enormous painting of 14 meters high and 120 meters around by 1881 (with the help of his wife and students). However by the time the panorama was completed the medium was almost old-fashioned again.
Truly special is that it is the last panorama that still exists in its original building where it was first exhibited. Other companies all over the world broke the theaters down and most panoramas got lost when the hype ended. But Mesdag bought the painting and the theater from with his own funds. Therefore we can still see it in it's original glory in today.
This is special to me since the panorama can be viewed as a prelude medium to 360-videos or Virtual Reality. The aim of creating an optical illusion to make people believe they are standing in the middle of a space where they not actually are, can said to be the same. I've seen this work two years ago and even after working with Virtual Reality, there is something overwhelming and magical about the illusion that a panorama creates.