Landscape with Cattle

A herd of cattle gathers at the edge of a wide waterway, some wading in to drink while one reclines lazily on the sandy bank. Their reddish and creamy coats catch the light, and their relaxed poses tell you this is an ordinary afternoon along a Dutch estuary. Out on the water, a couple of sailboats drift near the horizon, small enough to make the sky feel enormous by comparison.

Anton Mauve was a Dutch painter of the 1800s and a key member of the Hague School, a group known for painting the everyday countryside and coastal life of the Netherlands in muted, earthy colors. He was also a cousin by marriage to Vincent van Gogh, and for a short time he taught the younger artist how to work with oils and watercolors. Mauve had a real affection for animals, especially cattle and sheep, and he painted them again and again with a plain, unfussy honesty.

The best part of this picture is the sky, which takes up more than half the canvas. Heavy gray and white clouds pile up and break apart, letting patches of warm light fall on the grass and the animals below. It is that shifting weather, so typical of the low, flat Dutch landscape, that gives the scene its life.