Matthys Maris

**Matthijs Maris** (also known as Matthijs or Thijs Maris; 17 August 1839 – 22 August 1917) was a Dutch painter, etcher, and lithographer whose career bridged the Hague School and a more personal, dreamlike vision shaped by Pre-Raphaelite influences. Born in The Hague, he was one of three artistic brothers—alongside Jacob and Willem Maris—who played a central role in Dutch painting during the second half of the nineteenth century.

His early training began after failing the entrance exam to the Hague Academy of Art at age twelve. He received private lessons from Isaac Cornelis Elink Sterk before gaining admission and studying there until 1855. He also became a pupil of the marine painter Louis Meijer, who secured him a royal grant from Queen Sophie. This support allowed Maris to join his brother Jacob in Antwerp. Later travels with Jacob—to the Rhine, Switzerland, and France—exposed him to German Romanticism, which left a lasting mark on his sensibility.

Although he began within the realist traditions of the Hague School, Maris gradually moved away from it. After settling in Paris in 1869 and then London in 1877 (encouraged by the dealer Daniel Cottier), his work grew increasingly imaginative. He favored ethereal scenes of fairytale figures, enchanted castles, and veiled brides rendered in delicate gray tones that evoke mist and reverie. Notable examples include *The Bride, or Novice taking the Veil* (1887), portraits such as *Barije Swan* (1887) and *Baby lessor* (1880), and subjects featuring children often paired with animals. He applied paint in multiple thin, dry layers to achieve a soft, luminous haze.

Maris spent his final decades in London, where he died in 1917. Though less commercially successful than his brothers during his lifetime, his distinctive later style—poetic, introspective, and technically refined—has secured him a lasting place among the more visionary Dutch artists of his era. His works continue to be appreciated for their quiet magic and technical subtlety in museum collections today.