Jacob Maris
Encyclopedia
Jacob Maris was a Dutch
painter, who with his brothers Willem
and Matthijs
belonged to what has come to be known as the Hague School
of painters.
When he was twelve he took some art lessons and later enrolled in the Hague Academy of Art. An art dealer recognized his talent and saw to it that Jacob was able to work in the studio of Hubertus van Hove
. There he painted interiors as well as figurative and genre works.
Van Hove moved to Antwerp and the nineteen year old Maris went with him. This relationship continued until his brother Matthijs received a royal subsidy and joined Jacob. Together they rented space which also had room for their friend Lawrence Alma-Tadema
. They took lessons at the Antwerp Academy and were able to sell some of their works.
In 1857, Jacob Maris returned to the Hague, but Matthijs stayed another year in Antwerp before he again shared a studio with Jacob in The Hague. After they had earned enough money by copying eight royal portraits, they were able to go to Oosterbeek where they met Johannes Warnardus Bilders
, his son Gerard
, and others who later play important parts in the Hague School. The brothers also went on a study trip together to German, Switzerland and France. When their money was spent, they again moved in with their parents and Jacob took more lessons at the Hague Academy of Art. In the summer of 1864, Jacob again went to Oosterbeek and possibly to Fontainebleau and Barbizon. Following this trip he lived in Paris from 1865 till 1871 and then returned to Holland when the Franco-Prussian War
broke out.
In The Hague he became a strong landscape painter painting rivers and landscapes with mills and towpaths, and beach views with fishing boats. His stroke became broader and larger and his use of color became more subdued and directed towards portraying the atmospheric depiction of clouds. This part of has been compared to the seventeenth-century painters Jan van Goyen, Jacob Van Ruisdael and Johannes Vermeer
. His way of working has been described in the following way: "They say that he paints first and draws only afterwards. He applies the paint thickly, builds it up, fiddles around and messes with it-all gradually developing a harmony of colors that establishes the major directions. Only then does he complete his figures with lively, thin brush strokes. But the final touch is done with a master stroke, and in the end the entire work is as solid as the tightest drawing." Also, M. Philippe Zilcken said " No painter has so well expressed the ethereal effects, bathed in air and light through floating silvery mist, in which painters delight, and the characteristic remote horizons blurred by haze; or again, the grey yet luminous weather of Holland, unlike the dead grey rain of England or the heavy sky of Paris."
In 1871, Maris became a member of the Pulchri Studio
and would fill various administrative positions there. It was only after 1876 that he experienced any renown in the Netherlands and from 1885 on he was a celebrated painter. As a leader of the Hague School his influence was enormous. Nevertheless, Willem de Zwart
and possibly Bernard Blommers
had been his only students.
When he was in his sixties Maris began to suffer from asthma and corpulence. At the advice of his doctors he went to take the waters at Karlsbad, where he suddenly died on 7 August, 1899. He was buried in The Hague.
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
painter, who with his brothers Willem
Willem Maris
Willem Maris was a Dutch landscape painter of the Hague School.Willem was the third in a family of five children. His two brothers Jacob and Matthijs Maris preceded him as painters...
and Matthijs
Matthijs Maris
Matthias Marris was a Dutch painter, etcher and lithographer. He was also known as Matthijs Maris or Thijs...
belonged to what has come to be known as the Hague School
Hague School
The Hague School is the name given to a group of artists who lived and worked in The Hague between 1860 and 1890. Their work was heavily influenced by the realist painters of the French Barbizon school. The painters of the Hague school generally made use of relatively sombre colours, which is why...
of painters.
When he was twelve he took some art lessons and later enrolled in the Hague Academy of Art. An art dealer recognized his talent and saw to it that Jacob was able to work in the studio of Hubertus van Hove
Hubertus van Hove
Hubertus van Hove was a Dutch painter, the son of Bartholomeus van Hove and a teacher of some artists who became members of the Hague School....
. There he painted interiors as well as figurative and genre works.
Van Hove moved to Antwerp and the nineteen year old Maris went with him. This relationship continued until his brother Matthijs received a royal subsidy and joined Jacob. Together they rented space which also had room for their friend Lawrence Alma-Tadema
Lawrence Alma-Tadema
Lawrence Alma-Tadema, OM, RA was a Dutch painter.Born in Dronrijp, the Netherlands, and trained at the Royal Academy of Antwerp, Belgium, he settled in England in 1870 and spent the rest of his life there...
. They took lessons at the Antwerp Academy and were able to sell some of their works.
In 1857, Jacob Maris returned to the Hague, but Matthijs stayed another year in Antwerp before he again shared a studio with Jacob in The Hague. After they had earned enough money by copying eight royal portraits, they were able to go to Oosterbeek where they met Johannes Warnardus Bilders
Johannes Warnardus Bilders
Johannes Warnardus Bilders was a Dutch painter who was the father of Gerard Bilders and a forerunner of the Hague School.Johannes Bilders was born in Utrecht and took lessons from Jan Lodewijk Jonxis...
, his son Gerard
Gerard Bilders
Albertus Gerardus Bilders was a Dutch painter and collector who associated with some members of the Hague School....
, and others who later play important parts in the Hague School. The brothers also went on a study trip together to German, Switzerland and France. When their money was spent, they again moved in with their parents and Jacob took more lessons at the Hague Academy of Art. In the summer of 1864, Jacob again went to Oosterbeek and possibly to Fontainebleau and Barbizon. Following this trip he lived in Paris from 1865 till 1871 and then returned to Holland when the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
broke out.
In The Hague he became a strong landscape painter painting rivers and landscapes with mills and towpaths, and beach views with fishing boats. His stroke became broader and larger and his use of color became more subdued and directed towards portraying the atmospheric depiction of clouds. This part of has been compared to the seventeenth-century painters Jan van Goyen, Jacob Van Ruisdael and Johannes Vermeer
Johannes Vermeer
Johannes, Jan or Johan Vermeer was a Dutch painter who specialized in exquisite, domestic interior scenes of middle class life. Vermeer was a moderately successful provincial genre painter in his lifetime...
. His way of working has been described in the following way: "They say that he paints first and draws only afterwards. He applies the paint thickly, builds it up, fiddles around and messes with it-all gradually developing a harmony of colors that establishes the major directions. Only then does he complete his figures with lively, thin brush strokes. But the final touch is done with a master stroke, and in the end the entire work is as solid as the tightest drawing." Also, M. Philippe Zilcken said " No painter has so well expressed the ethereal effects, bathed in air and light through floating silvery mist, in which painters delight, and the characteristic remote horizons blurred by haze; or again, the grey yet luminous weather of Holland, unlike the dead grey rain of England or the heavy sky of Paris."
In 1871, Maris became a member of the Pulchri Studio
Pulchri Studio
The Pulchri Studio is an important art institution and art studio based in The Hague, Netherlands. It began in 1847 at the home of painter Lambertus Hardenberg, established with the help of Johan Hendrik Weissenbruch, Jan Weissenbruch, Willem Roelofs, Jan Frederik van Deventer, Willem Antonie van...
and would fill various administrative positions there. It was only after 1876 that he experienced any renown in the Netherlands and from 1885 on he was a celebrated painter. As a leader of the Hague School his influence was enormous. Nevertheless, Willem de Zwart
Willem de Zwart
Wilhelmus "Willem" Hendrikus Petrus Johannes Zwart , was a Dutch painter, engraver, watercolorist, with many connections to the Hague School....
and possibly Bernard Blommers
Bernard Blommers
Bernardus Johannes Blommers was a Dutch etcher and painter of the Hague School....
had been his only students.
When he was in his sixties Maris began to suffer from asthma and corpulence. At the advice of his doctors he went to take the waters at Karlsbad, where he suddenly died on 7 August, 1899. He was buried in The Hague.
Source
- Sillevis, John and Tabak, Anne, The Hague School Book, Waanders Uitgegevers, Zwolle, 2004 (pp 267-276)