Harry Maas (Nederweert 1906-1982 Eindhoven) is a son of the unruly teacher Herman, who as a writer addresses social abuses and is therefore called the 'Brabantse Zola'. Harry grows up in Roermond and Nijmegen, where he receives drawing lessons from M.G. Hölscher and Anton Kloosterhuis. From 1931 onwards, the unstable family lives in Eindhoven with hardly any money and many problems. His mother was admitted in 1933 for a mentally ill patient. Family circumstances are a determining influence in his life. Harry always lives with his father, but they hardly communicate because they don't like each other. Harry develops his arts and draws on the fellow artists of the Eindhoven Sketch Club.

Harry Maas is known as a draftsman and painter of city life and portraits of women. He also made linocuts and etchings. In 1940 he and other Eindhoven residents became a member of the Bredasche Kunstkring, with which he also exhibited several times. During the war period, Harry made many still lifes. Around 1950, more cityscapes and landscapes were created as a result of trips to England and Paris. His passion for locomotives and steam trams has a permanent place in his oeuvre. Fashionable or spicy dressed (school) girls are also increasingly becoming the subject; even then a difficult subject. Looking back, he slowly started his 'production'; like a kind of locomotive. He sells a lot through the art dealers Roelofs in Amsterdam and Beckers in Eindhoven and increasingly avoids exhibitions because he does not make innovative art and therefore receives art criticism. His French-oriented, impressionistic style had a smooth touch and his cheerful, bright use of color exudes painting joy. In 1974 he married Netty Michels, who made naive paintings.