A Drawbridge in a Dutch Town
- Artist: Jacob Maris
- Date: about 1875
- Medium: oil on canvas
- Museum: The National Gallery
- Collection record: The National Gallery website
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About this artwork
"A Drawbridge in a Dutch Town" painted by Jacob Maris. Look at the way he's emphasized the bridge's monumentality, increasing its distance from the row of houses on the right. This is quite different from his watercolour version of the same view, which dates back to 1875 and can be found at the Rijksmuseum.
Jacob may have simplified the foreground in this oil painting and replaced a single figure with a horse and cart. He also heightened the contrast between light and dark. The bridge itself has black outlines that appear to have been painted directly without any underdrawing. This technique, known as wet-in-wet, was quite advanced for its time.
The artist's approach to depicting everyday scenes is evident in this painting. His focus on the functional structure of the drawbridge is reminiscent of his brother Matthijs Maris's work, particularly "The Nieuwe Haarlemse Sluis on the Singel", also known as "Souvenir d'Amsterdam". This piece was painted in Paris in 1871 and was based on a photograph taken by Matthijs in Amsterdam back in 1860.
See it in person
A Drawbridge in a Dutch Town hangs in The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
