"Roelofs' advice is to paint rather thick, that is to say firmly in the paint and use this preferably without any oil or turpentine.. .I hope you will understand it well, not thick in color, because he only achieves that haze and the strength of colors by painting it over repeatedly."

“biographical notes on Hendrik Willem Mesdag, in Dutch RKD-Archive, The Hague”

“Those two instructed in exactly the opposite way, you know. For example, Roelofs used to say: you must put more color in that drawing . And you didn't always saw it yourself in a moment, because you were not yet that far and as high as the master himself was. But Tadema did something completely different; he had more the manners of a professor, who gave his lectures. So Roelofs and he actually complemented each other.”

“At the coast you can see the most beautiful sea. I also made my panorama there. I regard it as my most important work; because it gives such a huge impression of nature. But I don't like to start it all again; to paint sixteen hundred meters of canvas there..”

“Dear Niece Angel, - Thank you for your words of condolence in the death of . At the funeral it turned out again how much she is honored and loved by all. She was the sun in my life, and although painfully affected, I remember in silent melancholy the many years that I might kept her. Fortunately, the end has been calm and quiet and because of this she has been spared for even greater pains by her illness . I hope to find in my work consolation and distraction for the irreparable loss.- With friendly greetings Your affectionate Nephew HW Mesdag”

“..the art-reviews on my work in the French and English magazines.. .. enough to claim that I already have reached a prominent position among today's marine painters. I would also like to take this fact into consideration when determining my prices.”

“many free pictures of Mesdag's paintings: on the website, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam”