Willem Maris, 'Ducks alighting on a Pool', about 1885
About the work
Overview
Willem Maris trained at the Hague Drawing Academy, as did his two older brothers, Jacob and Matthijs, who were also artists. His paintings are of traditional Dutch subjects – particularly animals and landscapes – but painted in a lyrical manner that, in his later work, comes close to French Impressionism. His favourite motifs were cattle, and later ducks and chickens, in meadows or landscapes that typically include willow trees and also ponds, canals and rivers.
In this small painting we see a duck pond near the artist’s home at Voorburg. The sparse foliage and pale sky suggest it is winter or early spring. A mallard in full blue-green head plumage approaches a white duck that is perhaps about to alight on the water. Maris has created an atmospheric scene using a mesh of delicate brushstrokes and by limiting his principal colours to cool grey-greens and olive-browns.
Key facts
Details
- Full title
- Ducks alighting on a Pool
- Artist
- Willem Maris
- Artist dates
- 1844 - 1910
- Date made
- about 1885
- Medium and support
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- 32.4 × 20.3 cm
- Inscription summary
- Signed
- Acquisition credit
- Presented by J.C.J. Drucker, 1912
- Inventory number
- NG2875
- Location
- Not on display
- Collection
- Main Collection
Provenance
Additional information
Text extracted from the ‘Provenance’ section of the catalogue entry in Neil MacLaren, revised and expanded by Christopher Brown, ‘National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School: 1600–1900’, London 1991; for further information, see the full catalogue entry.
Bibliography
-
1960Maclaren, Neil, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 2 vols, London 1960
-
1991Maclaren, Neil, revised by Christopher Brown, National Gallery Catalogues: The Dutch School, 1600-1900, 2nd edn (revised and expanded), 2 vols, London 1991
-
2001
C. Baker and T. Henry, The National Gallery: Complete Illustrated Catalogue, London 2001
About this record
If you know more about this painting or have spotted an error, please contact us. Please note that exhibition histories are listed from 2009 onwards. Bibliographies may not be complete; more comprehensive information is available in the National Gallery Library.