Jac Maris

Jacob Maris, the grandfather of Jac, was a famous and well-known painter in the Netherlands. In addition to sculpturing Jac Maris worked as a draftsman and photographer and became a well-known artist in the Netherlands. He was born in Magdeburg (GER) and wanted to become an artist from his youth. He received his training in Kleve studied and at the art academy in Düsseldorf. In the following years he traveled to London, Wien (Vienna), Russia, and the USA and studied with Rodin in Paris. In 1926 he settled in Heumen near Nijmegen. As a religious artist Maris had many contacts in the Catholic Church, and in 1938 converted to Catholicism. In the 1930s and 1940s he mainly produced busts of saints and other sacred works. After World War II, in which Maris was active as a resistance fighter, he received various commands for war memorials. He eventually produced portraits of well-known personalities, facade reliefs and freestanding sculptures. Maris’ favorite subjects were animals and men. His former studio is now a museum showing his works.

Maris himself proposed the 162 cm high figure of a Polo Player made of artificial stone for the art competitions. He then inserted the participant’s medal into the base. The work was then shown at several exhibitions in the Netherlands.