The Cowherd

The Cowherd is characteristic of Anton Mauve’s ability to evoke the serene atmosphere and stillness of a Dutch polder landscape – with its low-lying land reclaimed from the sea – where the main focus is set on the harmonious relationship between peasant and herd. The backs of the cows almost match the horizon line, and only the virtually bare trees rise up towards the dark, grey sky. Centred in the picture plane, the cows and the herdswoman close off the view into the distance – a device typical of the Hague School landscape painting – and imbue the scene with the intimacy between human and animal for which Mauve became famous. Mauve’s paintings sold well abroad, mainly in Scotland, England and the United States, and were to the tastes of early Montreal art collectors.