Simon Maris in zijn atelier aan de Keizersgracht in Amsterdam Possibly 1905 - 1946

Sigmund Löw made this photograph of Simon Maris in his studio on the Keizersgracht in Amsterdam. Oh, to be an artist in a room filled with so much stuff! Simon Maris sits quietly in his armchair, a portrait of a woman visible on the easel behind him. What was he thinking when Löw took this photo? Was he about to resume painting when the photographer arrived? I can only imagine the struggle of being Simon Maris in that moment, of always trying to achieve something. As a painter myself, I know how painting can be a constant process of trial and error, of shifting and emerging until something finally clicks. I wonder if that's how Simon felt, too. The painting on the easel seems incomplete; maybe it needs one more crucial mark, or a change of color, or a moment of inspiration. It's as if Maris is waiting to be struck by a bolt of lightning.