Jacob Maris (Dutch, 1837-1899)
On occasion, Christie's has a direct financial int… Read more PROPERTY FROM THE DR ANTON PHILIPS COLLECTION With a remarkably rich and rewarding life, Anton Philips (1874-1951) has rightly earned a place in the collective memory of the Dutch people. His vigour and entrepreneurial spirit transformed the light-bulb-producing company founded by his brother and father into a global business, providing lifelong employment for tens of thousands of people throughout Holland and abroad. Anton Philips was by all accounts a larger than life figure: charismatic, energetic and with a lively temper. A passionate character, he also had a practical nature: these assets would prove invaluable in his business dealings, as well as in his collecting. Anton entered the art world at a young age. Among his first purchases, made in his mid-twenties, was in fact a cavalry work by George Hendrik Breitner. It was not long before important dealers began to take notice of this powerful entrepreneur with a love of the arts; but the offers which soon began to present themselves in rapid succession, were invariably declined by Anton. He preferred to take the lead himself and was a frequent visitor to international auction rooms and galleries, often prolonging a business trip by a few days for that purpose. By the 1920s, Anton Philips ranked amongst the most important private collectors in the Netherlands, loaning a Jacob Ruysdael to a Paris exhibition as well as a Marinus de Reymersael to The Hague Mauritshuis. He greatly appreciated the work of 15th and 17th Century painters such as Sir Peter Paul Rubens, Jan Steen and Willem van de Velde the younger, but was also captivated by 19th Century painters Vincent van Gogh, George Hendrik Breitner and Jacob Maris. With the prospect of World War II looming, Anton set about protecting his collection against its potential horrors. Ever the man of action, he once again took fate into his own hands. Sixty numbered boxes of paintings were taken to the depot of the Nederlandse Handelsmaatschapij in The Hague, where they were stored alongside the State Art Collection, while a second shipment of boxes, containing porcelain, silver and antiquities, was transported to the Amsterdam Museum of Asian Art. Both safe houses would indeed escape the notice of the Nazis. Today, his legacy is a timeless and varied collection of objects which, over the years, has only grown in value and appeal.
Jacob Maris (Dutch, 1837-1899)

De Brug (bij Rijswijk): the bridge

Details
Jacob Maris (Dutch, 1837-1899)
De Brug (bij Rijswijk): the bridge
signed 'J.Maris' (lower left)
oil on canvas
82 x 112 cm.
Provenance
Possibly acquired directly from the artist in circa 1895 by Mr and Mrs K.K. van Hoffen, Utrecht.
Sale K.K. van Hoffen (Utrecht) a.o., Frederik Muller, Amsterdam, 31 October 1916, lot 179, as: Le Pont (f. 24.200), where acquired by Dr A.F. Philips, Eindhoven, thence by descent to the present owners.
Exhibited
Amsterdam, Arti et Amicitiae, Eere-tentoonstelling Jacob Maris, December 1899, cat.no. 92, as: De Brug (bij Rijswijk), and dated to 1895 (on loan from Mr K.K. van Hoffen, Utrecht).
Special notice
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Lot Essay

Jacob Maris' passion for landscape painting was awakened during his visits to the artists colony Oosterbeek around 1860. In 1865 Maris moved to Paris where he stayed until 1871. During this period he initially painted very marketable genre works, the so called Italiennes (see lot 145), but was later influenced by the Barbizon School of landscape painters.

On his return from Paris, the artist focused his attention on the surroundings of The Hague. This move back to his native town proved to be a turning point in his career. Inspired by the painters he had met in Oosterbeek and the work of the Barbizon School, Maris developed into a leading figure within the Hague School and was widely acclaimed for his impressionist renderings of towns. He instigated a new direction in Dutch painting by the strength of his compositions, uncomplicated use of colour, dramatic lighting, and above all, his broad and confident handling of paint.

Jacob Maris work was very well received in Holland and abroad. Following his death the international art community expressed their admiration for his paintings in no uncertain terms: '... in looking at his pictures we are impressed by their breadth, strength and simplicity, with the wonderful movement and light in the sky, which is modelled with a mingled subtlety and strength that perhaps no other modern artist attained.' (see: E.G.C., 'James Maris', in: The Art Journal, April 1900, p. 111).

Jacob Maris used the distinctive white wooden bridge in Rijswijk for a series of paintings produced in the 1870's and 1880's. The composition of 'De Brug' painted in 1879 and kept in the collection of the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam (fig. 3) is strikingly similar to the present painting apart from some remarkable details. The windmill is absent and the figure in the boat seems to be busy with his pipe rather than looking at the girl carrying milk-cans. Individual details are apparently secondary to the overall layout of pictorial elements.

There has been some debate concerning the year in which the present painting was made. When the painting was exhibited at the 'Eere Tentoonstelling' at Arti et Amicitiae in December 1899, one catalogue suggests it was painted in 1872 which would make it a very early version indeed. In one catalogue, with charming annotations by the art historian Jan Veth, a question mark is visible next to the date. Considering that in most other catalogues the date 1895 is used, we should conclude that it is most probable that the present work was painted in 1895.

Further versions of this exceptionally strong composition are held in important American collections. A version executed in 1872 was acquired by Mr John G. Johnson who bequeathed it to the Philadelphia Museum of Art (fig. 1). Moreover, a large work painted around 1885 has been in the Frick Collection, New York (fig. 2), since 1914 following its sale at Christie's in 1910.

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