Rob Graafland artwork • painting • previously for sale Figures in a boat

The Maastricht resident Rob Graafland was educated in the decorative arts, but in 1895 chose to become a free artist. He was taught at the Rijksacademie in Amsterdam for three years and then returned to the South as a matured talent. His style can be described as a strongly romantic impressionism in which warm, lively colors predominate and figures are incorporated in a fantastic play of colors full of brilliance and opulence. The painter's favorite themes were the beauty of women, children and dance. As the founder of the 'Limburgse Kunstkring' (1910), Graafland was considered a pioneer of the Limburg painting school.