Anton Mauve (1838-1888) - de koeienhoedster / taking care of the cows

Artist: Anton Mauve Sr. (1838-1888)
Title: "the cowherd / taking care of the cows"
Year: approx. 1860
Technique: Etching on paper
Edition: E.A.
Dimensions (image): 11 x 20 cm; in mat window: 30 x 40 cm
Signature: pencil
Condition: very good

The work of the Dutch painter, watercolorist, and etcher Anton Mauve is classified with the Hague School. Mauve mainly painted landscapes with animals, seascapes, and portraits. He worked for many years in Laren. The Gooi region was at that time also called the “Land of Mauve.” At the end of 1881 Mauve gave his nephew Vincent van Gogh painting lessons for a few weeks.
Education
Anthonij Mauve was born on 18 September 1838 in Zaandam. He was a son of Elisabeth Margaretha Hirschig and the Mennonite pastor Willem Carel Mauve. A year after his birth the family moved to Haarlem, where his sister and later singer Susanna Pouwlina was born. Anton grew up there and took his first drawing lessons. His parents gave him permission to become an artist provided he obtain a teaching certificate for drawing instruction. Among others, Anton studied with Pieter Frederik van Os and Wouter Verschuur.
Vincent van Gogh
Mauve worked in several places in the Netherlands. He worked between 1872 and 1885 in The Hague and the surrounding area. Anton Mauve was a cousin of Vincent van Gogh. In his Hague period he gave his nephew three weeks of lessons at the end of 1881. Vincent adopted several Mauve motifs, such as reapers and potato eaters, but Vincent van Gogh’s visit to Mauve’s studio did not last long. The two fell into conflict over Vincent’s relationship with Sien Hoornik, a poor woman with an alcohol problem and a past as a prostitute. Later other family members also involved themselves in Sien and Vincent’s relationship. Vincent is said to have left her in 1883 by moving to Drenthe.
Hague School
Mauve collaborated with Paul Gabriel and worked in Amsterdam, Haarlem, The Hague, and Laren. During a visit to Oosterbeek he came into contact with Gerard Bilders and Willem Maris. These artists had a strong influence on him. His name is connected with both the Hague School and the Larense School. In his work one notes a strong influence from the Barbizon school.
Landscapes, seascapes, and portraits
Anton Mauve mainly painted landscapes with animals, seascapes, and portraits. Mauve’s work is delicate, pure, and modest. The forms are often subordinated to a gray color cadence. Mauve looked beyond the first impression of what he observed. He carefully weighed the nuances of color and light against the main tones.
Death
Anton Mauve married Jet Carbentus, who was eighteen years younger. She was a cousin of Vincent van Gogh. Mauve was awarded a gold medal at the Paris Salon of 1887 for his painting "The Return of the Herd." Anton Mauve died on 5 February 1888 in Arnhem of an aneurysm. His son, Anton Rudolph Mauve Jr., also became a painter.