Anton Rudolf Mauve Biography | Oil Paintings

Anton Rudolf Mauve was apprenticed to the painter Pieter Frederik van Os followed by Wouter Verschuur and later he worked with Paul Gabriël, painting from nature, and they regularly stayed and worked together at Oosterbeek, the 'Dutch Barbizon'.

Most of Anton Rudolf Mauve's work depicts people and animals in outdoor settings. In his oil painting Morning Ride on the Beach, equestrians at the beach are seen riding away from the viewer with horse droppings in the foreground, attests his commitment to realism. His best-known paintings depict peasants working in the fields. His oil paintings of flocks of sheep were very popular with American buyers, so popular that there was a price difference between scenes of "sheep coming" and "sheep going".

In the last two years of his life, Anton Rudolf Mauve settled in the village of Laren in the region called Het Gooi. The group of painters who lived there, including Jozef Israëls, Willem Maris, and Albert Neuhuys, came to be known as the Larense School and the region around het Gooi was called 'Mauve land'.

Anton Rudolf Mauve was married to Van Gogh's cousin (Jet) Jeannette Carbentus, and he was a major influence on Vincent van Gogh, he is mentioned in 152 of Van Gogh's letters, only surpassed by the mention of Jean Francois Millet at 170 times.

Vincent Van Gogh spent three weeks at Mauve's studio at the end of 1881 and during that time he made his initial try at the painting under Mauve's instruction, at first in oils and then early the next year in watercolor. Anton Rudolf Mauve lent him money to rent and furnish a studio and continued to encourage him, but later grew cold towards him and did not return several letters. Nevertheless, Van Gogh who revered him dedicated one of his most notable artworks to Mauve's memory after learning of his sudden passing, two years before he shot himself.

Peach Tree in Bloom, in which Van Gogh wrote, “Now here, for instance, at this moment, I have 6 paintings of blossoming fruit trees. And the one I brought home today would possibly appeal to you — it’s a dug-over patch of ground in an orchard, a wicker fence, and two peach trees in full bloom, pink against a sparkling blue sky with white clouds and in the sunshine. You may well see it since I’ve decided to send this one to Jet Mauve. I’ve written on it Souvenir de Mauve, Vincent & Theo.“

Art Movement: Realism.
Artists Influencing Anton Rudolf Mauve: Pieter Frederik van Os, Wouter Verschuur.
Painters Anton Rudolf Mauve Influenced: Vincent van Gogh, Robert McGregor.
Artist Biography compiled by Albert L. Mansour at The World's Artist, with text adapted from Wikipedia.