Maria Vos | |
---|---|
Born | Amsterdam, Netherlands | 21 December 1824
Died | 11 January 1906 Oosterbeek, Netherlands | (aged 81)
Partner | Adriana Johanna Haanen[1] |
Maria Vos (Dutch pronunciation: [maːˈrijaː ˈvɔs]; 21 December 1824 – 11 January 1906) was a Dutch still-life painter.
She was born to the family of a stockbroker. She originally studied what would now be called "home economics" at a French boarding school in Weesp.[2] But, as was common for upper-class young ladies at the time, she also received drawing lessons, from Christiaan Andriessen. Later, she studied painting with Petrus Kiers.[3] In 1844, she had a showing at the Exhibition of Living Masters and, in 1847, became an honorary member of the "Royal Academy of Fine Arts" in Amsterdam.[3]
She worked there until 1853, when she moved to Oosterbeek and joined a group of painters known as the Hollandse Barbizon. In 1863, her friend, Adriana Johanna Haanen, the sister-in-law of her teacher, Kiers, joined her there. Seven years later, they built a home known as the "Villa Grada", where they gave drawing and painting lessons.[2] Haanen died in 1895, but Vos remained and became one of the last artists in residence there. On her eightieth birthday, she received a personal tribute from seventy members of Arti et Amicitiae.[2]
Although Vos is primarily known for still lifes, she also did portraits, landscapes and cityscapes, including a series of watercolors depicting Oosterbeek. She mostly exhibited in the Netherlands and Belgium, but also had a showing at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia.[3] Much of her work has been lost (or misplaced), but due to the sheer quantity of her output, much remains.[2] Major retrospectives of her work were held in 1973 and 2002.