Brook in the Woods near Oosterbeek

This sketch dates from Matthijs Maris’s formative years, when he spent summers working together with his brother Jacob in the vicinity of Oosterbeek. The wooded hills on the edge of the Rhine Valley were full of picturesque spots. This idyllic scene strikes one as still Romantic, but Maris took great pains to observe and render accurately the fall of sunlight on the flowing water.