Brief aan Frans Buffa en Zonen Possibly 1873

This is a letter to Frans Buffa en Zonen, written by Willem Maris in the late 19th or early 20th century. The letter gives us an intimate look into the relationships between artists and art dealers of the time. Maris, part of the Hague School, captures the Dutch landscape with a sensitivity that reflects the national identity and pride of the era. Letters like this one provide a glimpse into the daily life of artists, where business and creativity were intertwined. They often had to navigate the art market to sustain themselves and their artistic visions. Maris, who came from an artistic family, was deeply rooted in the cultural landscape of the Netherlands, yet, he still had to negotiate his worth with dealers such as Buffa. This letter then becomes an artifact of its time, documenting the social structures that governed artistic production, revealing a world of personal negotiations behind the art we often see as purely aesthetic.