What do you do on a winter's day?

You go to the museum, of course. For some months now there is an exhibit in two museums in Holland of the Dutch realist painter Anton Mauve. I had been wanting to go to at least one of the two. The Singer Museum in Laren is not too far of a drive so we decided to go there. I had read information about this painter online after having seen advertisements about the exhibit. It was my first time to see his paintings and well worth the visit.

He painted Dutch landscapes in the village of Laren where he lived from 1885 to his death. These are some examples of the woman of the village which he painted in their daily life.

One of the things I loved about this exhibit was reading little excerpts from letters he wrote to his wife which were printed on the walls. I am going to include two of them and do my best to translate them to their due worth giving Anton Mauve's letters justice...

"Een mooi land, prachtige heide, schapen zijn er ook, magnifique rieten daken en zeer vriendelijke hoekjes".

'A beautiful countryside, pretty heather with sheep, magnificent thatched roofs and very cozy spots.'

"‘t Is aandoenlijk mooi hier, van een fijnheid van lijnen, een liefelijke poezij straalt uit alles, binnenhuizen, wegen, akkers, boschjes en de menschen is van ‘t liefste soort dat te bedenken is".

'It is movingly beautiful here, from the delicate lines, a sweet poetry streams from everything... inside homes, roads, fields, woods and the kindest people that one can think of.'