Eenden onder wilgen 1844 - 1910

Willem Maris painted "Ducks Under Willows" in watercolor in the Netherlands, though we don’t know exactly when. It encapsulates the essence of the Hague School, a late 19th-century movement of Dutch artists who turned away from the grand historical themes of academic art to focus on landscapes and scenes of everyday life. The image’s soft, muted tones and hazy atmosphere evoke the Dutch countryside, a land deeply shaped by water management and agriculture. The ducks, common inhabitants of this landscape, are not presented as idealized or symbolic figures, but as simple elements of the natural world. Paintings like this reflect a growing interest in the lives of ordinary people and the beauty of the natural world. Researching exhibition records, art criticism, and artists' biographies can enrich our understanding of how it was made and received, revealing the complex social and cultural forces that shaped its meaning.