Fishing for Shells, by Jacob Maris, 1885
Gallery mode Full size at the museum

Window mode follows your eyes with your camera, in this browser only: no picture or position leaves your device.

Fishing for Shells

Also titled Schelpenvissen

Jacob Maris (The Hague, 1837–1899)

1885

Medium
canvas, oil paint (paint)
Classification
painting
Dimensions
depth 15.5 cm
Museum
Rijksmuseum
Credit line
Gift of Mr and Mrs Drucker-Fraser, Montreux
Rights
Public Domain Mark, as the museum states it.
Who can see it
Little Ones profiles and older: it shows gentle subjects for the very young. How works are placed

View at the Rijksmuseum

About this work

Fishermen comb the shoreline with their nets in search of shells, their diminutive figures dwarfed by the expansive beach around them. However, the true star of the composition is the broadly painted sky. Maris used a host of grey and white shades to capture the silvery light of a day by the sea. He was fascinated by the pristine Dutch coastal landscape, which was gradually changing with the advent of tourism.