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Anton Mauve (1838 - 1888) was a Dutch realist painter who had tremendous influence on the Dutch painters of his time. Himself influenced by the sensitive realism of the Barbizon school of landscape painting that came out of France in the 1830s-50s, he was a key member of a group of painters, known as the Hague School, that defined the look of Dutch landscape painting for the next few decades. Jozef Israels and Willem Maris, the two other founders of the Hague School, were friends of his, and together the three of them developed the loose painting and muted color harmonies that were the defining characteristics of the Hague School. 

Mauve focused on pastoral themes in his work – people and animals in tranquil outdoor activities. His early work shows the tight brushwork and chiaroscuro lighting that was prevalent in the history painting of the time, but as he experimented with the looser, freer method of painting inspired by Jozef Israels, Mauve settled into a fluid style and tonal palette of muted greens, blues, and grey that was well suited to the Dutch landscape. He became known for his paintings of sheep in particular – they were very popular as far afield as America, where landscape was a beloved genre, and Mauve produced so many variations on the theme of a herd of sheep that a price difference developed between “sheep coming” and (the less expensive) “sheep going”. 

In the 1870s he settled in the Hague, where he was deeply involved in vibrant artists’ community there. He was involved in the founding of Pulchri Studio, an artists’ society that still functions to this day in The Hague, and Hollandsche Teekenmaatschappij, a now-defunct society for the promotion of watercolor painting as a finished art form. (Watercolors, though frequently used by fine artists, were generally considered a sketching medium - they were often called ‘drawings’ rather than ‘paintings’ - and were rarely exhibited as finished pieces. Mauve worked with equal facility in oil and watercolor and sold many finished pieces that were worked in a combination of watercolor and gouache.) In 1886, just two years before his early death at the age of 49, he moved, along with some of his friends including Jozef Israels and Albert Neuhys, to the village of Laren. Because of the landscape paintings that Mauve and his friends did there, Laren became known as a haven for artists and was called ‘Mauve land’ by followers and patrons from the United States. 

Despite his early death, Mauve was one of the most famous landscape painters of his era. In addition to his own work, he was an inspiration and influence to an impressive roster of artists in the succeeding years. He is most famously one of the most important influences of Vincent van Gogh, who was the cousin of Mauve’s wife and frequently visited Mauve’s studio when he was living in The Hague. Although they eventually had a falling out, van Gogh admired Mauve’s work tremendously and received some of his first instruction in painting, in both watercolor and oil, from Mauve. Other artists who were taught or influenced by Mauve include the Scottish landscape painter Robert McGregor and the portraitist Jan Veth. 

Anton Mauve, The Studio of the Haarlem Painter Pieter Frederik van Os, oil on paper, c. 1856

Anton Mauve, Changing Pasture, oil on canvas, c. 1880

Anton Mauve, Bringing home the flock, watercolor and gouache on paper

Anton Mauve, Forest edge on the water, watercolor on paper, c. 1848 

Anton Mauve, Horse, oil on canvas, c.1860 - 1888

Anton Mauve, Sheep Watering by a River, oil on canvas 

Anton Mauve, A shepherd and his flock, chalk and watercolor on paper

Anton Mauve, Elisabeth Mauve, Daughter of the Artist, watercolor on paper, c. 1888

Anton Mauve, Cows in the meadow, charcoal on beige paper 

Anton Mauve, Plowing, oil on panel, c. 1885