Willem Maris, born in The Hague, was the youngest of the three painting Maris brothers and is regarded as one of the most impressionistic representatives of the Hague School. He developed his artistic skills largely as an autodidact, influenced by his brothers Jacob and Matthijs, and also studied at the Hague Academy. His preference was for painting watery landscapes with cows and ducks, focusing particularly on the depiction of light and atmosphere. Maris was known for saying, “I do not paint cows, but light.” His paintings are characterised by loose brushwork and a subtle use of colour, often capturing sunlight on the back of a cow with thickly applied white paint. The forms in his work are generally not sharply defined, allowing the greys, blues, and greens of water, land, and sky to merge into one another. This gives his work a dreamy and atmospheric quality. Willem Maris enjoyed considerable international success, and his paintings are held in the collections of, among others, the Rijksmuseum, Kunstmuseum Den Haag, and Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen. His work remains cherished for its serene portrayal of the Dutch landscape and masterful treatment of light and colour.