In the Garden

Jacob Hendricus Maris 1837 - 1899

Summary

A girl concentrates on her sewing in the dappled shade of a trellis, her sewing bag in front of her on the table. Sunlight filters through the skirts of her light, striped summer dress. The green furniture and the greenery outside cast a cool light, indicating that this is a pleasant refuge from the heat of the day. The loose brushwork lends the picture an air of informality, as if the scene has just been captured by the artist outdoors. Jacob Maris trained at the fine arts academies in The Hague and Antwerp, and in the 1860s went to Paris. His subjects were typically Dutch landscapes and scenes of everyday life, painted in a naturalistic manner, reminiscent of the work of the Barbizon painters. He became one of the leading figures of the Hague school.