Artwork
Lying Cow
Lying Cow is an oil painting by the Realist artist Anton Mauve. It dates from 1874 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
About this work
Subject & Meaning
Mauve's choice to render a single cow in repose, rather than at work or in motion, emphasizes tranquility and the contemplative character of rural existence.
Lying Cow depicts a cow resting in a pastoral setting, a subject characteristic of Anton Mauve's late nineteenth-century rural imagery. The painting portrays the animal at rest within a pasture, presenting the cow as a quiet emblem of agrarian life and anchoring the composition in the everyday rhythms of the countryside rather than in landscape grandeur.
Executed in oil on a small panel, the work's modest scale and intimate viewpoint invite close observation of the animal at rest, reinforcing themes of stillness, sustenance, and the pastoral ideal. Mauve's choice to render a single cow in repose, rather than at work or in motion, emphasizes tranquility and the contemplative character of rural existence.
Technique & Style
Executed in 1874, Lying Cow is an oil painting by Anton Mauve on a wooden panel. The work measures 17 cm in height and 25 cm in width, characterizing it as a small-scale composition. Stylistically, the piece depicts a grazing cow in a rural pasture, focusing on agricultural subject matter within a compact format.
History & Provenance
Anton Mauve painted Lying Cow in 1874, an oil on panel measuring 17 by 25 centimetres depicting a cow in a rural pasture. The painting is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum, where it forms part of the museum's representation of nineteenth-century Dutch pastoral subjects.
No specific inventory or accession number, nor any documented exhibition history, is provided in the available sources.
Legacy
Anton Mauve's 1874 painting Lying Cow entered the Rijksmuseum collection, where it became a touchstone for Dutch realist pastoral scenes. Contemporary critics highlighted its naturalistic rendering of grazing cattle in Prim'Holstein landscapes, a compositional approach later echoed in the works of Jacob Maris and the broader Hague School. The piece's emphasis on everyday rural labor influenced subsequent genre painters who sought to elevate ordinary countryside moments through precise observation and subdued palette.
Overview
Anton Mauve’s 1874 oil painting Lying Cow presents a solitary dairy cow at rest in a modest field. Rendered in the realist tradition of the Hague School, the work emphasizes natural light and a subdued palette, inviting viewers to observe a quiet moment of rural life. The canvas is part of the Rijksmuseum’s permanent collection.
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Artist & collection
Artist
Anthonij "Anton" Rudolf Mauve (Dutch pronunciation:; 18 September 1838 – 5 February 1888) was a Dutch realist painter who was a leading member of the Hague School.
