A White House among Trees

This small oil painting on millboard has a false signature of the Dutch artist Matthijs Maris. Maris studied in The Hague and Antwerp and also worked in Paris from 1869 to 1877 – his Men Unloading Carts, Montmartre was painted during his time there. He settled in London in 1877, where he died in 1917.Although not by Maris, the picture may have been painted by a follower or imitator. As it has little resemblance to Maris’s work it is difficult to believe it is a deliberate fake.The white building, which is probably a farmhouse, does not look Dutch. Instead, this may be a scene in the south of France or in a Mediterranean country. The picture does convey an impression of a white building shaded from the sun by overhanging trees, but it is quite crudely painted throughout with a limited range of colours.