Hans Wacker Elsen was a German painter born in Düsseldorf on December 21, 1868. In 1901, he came to the Netherlands and visited Zandvoort, among other places. During his stay in the coastal village, he presumably created this painting of a Zandvoort bomschuit. Formally, the painting is titled “Fischer i/d Noordzee”. In 1913, the painting was offered for sale for DM 350.00 during the major art exhibition in Düsseldorf. In that year, Wakker moved back to the Netherlands to market his work there. Because German art did not sell well in those years, partly due to the 1st World War, he signed his paintings as H. Wakker Elzen, H. Wakker Elsen or H. Wacker Elsen. He also painted under the alias J. Tenhagen. A label on the back of the painting lists Hans Wakker as the creator (Hans Wacker-Elsen).
Wacker primarily painted seascapes. Additionally, he was an admirer of Van Gogh’s style. Some of his paintings bear the characteristics of Van Gogh (including a view of Dordrecht). It is worth mentioning in this regard that his son, Otto Wacker, was arrested in 1932 in connection with several forgeries of Van Gogh paintings. Although it was never proven, there is a suspicion that his father, Hans Wacker, created these forgeries. Wacker passed away in 1958.