Mauritz Frederik Hendrick de Haas (1832-1895), Dutch-American
After a Storm (Marine View—After a Storm), 1873
OIL ON CANVAS, 12 x 18 inches
Gift of Horace Fairbanks

Just a few years after he painted this work, the marine painter Mauritz de Haas wrote, "I like nothing better than to paint a storm." He was fascinated by the varying colors of water and sky and made innumerable studies of both. The constant change and dramatic effects that characterize stormy weather render it a particular challenge. De Haas elabo­rated on his method of studying the ceaseless movement and unique properties of water: "Waves never exactly repeat themselves; but a similar wave always comes back, so that, in making studies of them, I watch the appearance of just such a wave as I wish to represent, draw it at once, and take its colour from a second wave." In this painting, the translucency of the water, rich and varied palette within the waves themselves, and dynamic sense of movement all attest to de Haas' painstaking approach to his subject.