I missed the birthday (September 18, 1838) of Anton Mauve – Dutch Realist painter. He painted a whole lot of paintings of animals and peasants in the fields and I kind of like much of his work. Apparently, his paintings of sheep were very popular in America, so much so that a price differential developed between ‘sheep coming’ and ‘sheep going’. Here’s one called ‘The Return of the Flock’.
Mauve was married to Vincent van Gogh’s cousin, Arriette, and Mauve was a major influence on Van Gogh. He helped teach Van Gogh the use of watercolors and oils and later lent him money to rent and furnish a studio. Mauve later turned cold to Van Gogh over the latter’s relationship with a prostitute, ‘Sien’. Van Gogh continued to revere Mauve, though and, upon Mauve’s sudden death in 1888, dedicated one of his most iconic paintings to him – this painting of peach trees in bloom which he titled ‘Souvenir de Mauve’. You can see it in the Kröller-Müller Museum the next time you are in the Netherlands. I like it a lot.
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