The Grote Kerk, Dordrecht

Maris was regarded by the general public as well as art historians as the leader of the Hague School. He moved to Paris in 1865 and was won over by the Barbizon School painters. Most of all, he admired the work of Corot. Maris’s reputation was formed after he returned to the country, when he took to painting such subjects as windmills, beaches and cities along wide rivers amid vast, cloudy skies. This work is an example of his preference for typically Dutch scenes, built using thick layers of paint applied in broad gestures, a new technique he introduced and loved, bringing movement into the picture. As with all painters of the Hague School, Maris was interested in conveying the poetry of ordinary life and the atmospheric power of the landscape and the sea.