He was considered to be the most important and influential Dutch landscape painter of the last quarter of the nineteenth century. His first teacher was the painter J.A.B. Stroebel who taught him the art of painting from 1849 to 1852. Jacob Maris his most known works are the series of portraits of the royal House of Orange, he worked on these with his brother Matthijs Maris. he is also known for his portraits of landscapes like "Schip on the Scheveningen beach".