Jacob Maris was a Dutch painter, who with his brothers Willem and Matthijs belonged to what has come to be known as the Hague School* of painters.

When he was twelve, he took some art lessons and later enrolled in the Hague Academy of Art. An art dealer recognized his talent and saw to it that Jacob was able to work in the studio of Hubertus van Hove. There he painted interiors as well as figurative and genre works.

Van Hove moved to Antwerp and the nineteen year old Maris went with him. This relationship continued until his brother Matthijs received a royal subsidy and joined Jacob. Together they rented space, which also had room for their friend Lawrence Alma-Tadema. They took lessons at the Antwerp Academy and were able to ...