Reclining nude

Harry Maas (1906-1982) has had a passion for drawing and painting from an early age. He received his first lessons in Roermond from M.G. Hölscher and in Nijmegen from Anton Kloosterhuis. After moving to Eindhoven in July 1931, he continued to develop himself and joined the art brothers at the Eindhoven Sketching Club. He was the driving force of this club for decades.

He exhibited his work particularly in group exhibitions of Kunstkring In Consten Een, Eindhovense Schetsclub, De Zuid-Nederlandsche Onafhankelijken, Bredasche Kunstkring and Kunstkring De Kempen after the Second World War.

After 1950, he hardly exhibited anymore. In the meantime, he had built up a circle of admirers and his work found its way to buyers via regular art dealers. In 1974, he married Netty Michels, who was successful with her narrative paintings in a naive style.

In the 1930s, Maas became known as a draughtsman and painter of portraits and figure pieces. He also made linocuts and started etching. Around the time of the war, he painted many (flower) still lifes. Around 1950, trips to England and France led to many cityscapes and landscapes. His passion for trains became an integral part of his oeuvre, in which he often reverted to nostalgic images and chose, just as in his cityscapes, fashionably dressed, pretty girls for the upholstery.

Female beauty, half-dressed or in the nude, runs like a thread through his work and the countless, elaborate or sketchy nudes of (school) girls posing for him have given him great fame. This work by Maas is as typical and qualitative as it gets.