Jacob Maris: 6 works

'Maris was alternating a traditional style inspired by the Old Masters of the seventeenth-century with the freer brushwork he had seen in the work of contemporary French painters like Corot and Daubigny. He was also starting to experiment with a more limited and tonal palette composed of shades of grey and brown, and to apply the paint more thickly with brush and palette knife.'

'The Corot-like background can be seen in his work several years earlier, while the same balcony appears in a picture dated 1867. The restrained tonality, contrasting with Jacob's earlier, rather colourful palette, has been attributed by De Gruyter to the renewed influence of Matthijs Maris, who joined his brother in Paris early in 1869.'

'The choice of this particularly Dutch theme, made famous by such artists as Esaias van de Velde, Jan van Goyen and Salomon van Ruysdael, has been interpreted as a deliberate statement by Maris. Coming at a time when he definitely opted for a career as a landscape painter, he stressed his allegiance to the traditions of his native land, to which he was to return the next year.'

'Maris knew the work of his French contemporaries, as shown by this view of a small town near Fontainebleau.'

'Maris, Mauve, Mesdag and Weissenbruch immortalized these fishing boats in a series of brilliant paintings. The most classical interpretation of the theme is seen in this painting by Jacob Maris, which can also be regarded as a perfect work from the Hague School's grey period.'

'Shortly after his return from Paris Jacob Maris paid his first visit to Amsterdam, where he was fascinated by the city's beauty when viewed from the water.'