Artwork
Cow beside a Ditch
Cow beside a Ditch is an oil painting by the Impressionist artist Willem Maris. It dates from 1893 and is held in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
About this work
Technique & Style
The work is executed in oil on canvas, a conventional support for Dutch 19th‑century easel painting.
The work is executed in oil on canvas, a conventional support for Dutch 19th‑century easel painting. Willem Maris applied thin, blended brushstrokes to render the animal and surrounding landscape with a naturalistic palette, emphasizing the soft diffusion of light across pasture and water, typical of the animal‑genre emphasis found in Maris’s oeuvre. The canvas is stretched and primed, allowing the paint to adhere securely, while the modest dimensions (65 × 81 cm) suggest an intimate, studio‑oriented handling rather than a public mural.
Stylistically, the piece balances detailed figurative rendering of the cow with loose, atmospheric treatment of sky and foliage, typical of the animal‑genre emphasis found in Maris’s oeuvre.
History & Provenance
Cow beside a Ditch is an oil-on-canvas painting by Willem Maris dated 1885. The work entered the collection of the Rijksmuseum, where it remains held and on display. The painting measures 65 cm in height by 81 cm in width.
No further details regarding commission, prior ownership, intermediate provenance, or acquisition circumstances are documented in the available sources.
The work Cow beside a Ditch (1885) is part of the Rijksmuseum’s collection in Amsterdam. According to the museum’s catalogue entry, the painting is listed under the museum’s holdings, but the specific accession or inventory number is not disclosed in the available documentation. No exhibition records relating to this painting are mentioned in the sources consulted, indicating that it has not been featured in publicly noted exhibitions to date.
The painting’s provenance is tied to its creation by Willem Maris, after which it entered the Rijksmuseum’s possession, where it remains on view within the institution’s Dutch Golden Age animal paintings gallery.
Context
Painted by Willem Maris in 1885, Cow beside a Ditch is an oil on canvas work measuring 65 × 81 cm and is classified as a Dutch animal‑art painting. The composition shows a cow standing near a ditch within a rural pasture, a motif typical of Maris’s focus on livestock in everyday countryside settings. Held in the Rijksmuseum, the piece exemplifies Maris’s engagement with rural genre subjects and reflects the technical handling of light and atmosphere that distinguishes his oeuvre.
Overview
Willem Maris's oil painting, Cow beside a Ditch, dates from 1893. This work captures a rural scene, focusing on a single bovine animal in its natural environment. The composition emphasizes the interaction between the animal, the water, and the surrounding landscape elements. It is part of the collection at the Rijksmuseum.
Subject & Meaning
The painting centers on a solitary cow, predominantly white with brown markings, positioned alongside a muddy ditch. The animal is depicted in profile, with a fence and trees forming the backdrop. In the foreground, green grass merges with the brown water of the ditch, creating a naturalistic portrayal of a common agricultural sight.
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