Ice skating fun and fraternization outside the city walls. In the foreground and on the far left, men are playing kolf, a ball game from the Middle Ages, a social game. The expression 'This is a game for me' comes from the game of kolf.
Barend Avercamp learned to paint from his much more famous uncle Hendrick Avercamp from Kampen. Barend Avercamp lived in Zutphen in the 17th century for about ten years.
oil on panel, 39 x 51 cm
donation from Mr. and Mrs. Kessler-Hülsmann, Kapelle op den Bosch
Egmond in North Holland is best known for its medieval abbey, founded by the Benedictines.
The abbey grew into an important cultural centre of the province of Holland. The Counts of Egmond built their castle there, which was demolished by the Geuzen in 1573 on the orders of William of Orange.
The tower of the St. Agnes Church also served as a beacon for sailors. At night, a fire burned in a basket on the pole on top of the tower, until the tower burned down in 1741. The grain of the oak panel on which the painting was made is clearly visible in the sky.
oil on panel, 24 x 32 cm
legacy of Mrs. ME van den Brink, Velp
Nicolaas Baur is one of the most famous painters that Harlingen has ever produced. He was born there in 1767 and died there in 1820. The Rijksmuseum owns eight paintings by Nicolaas Baur. Gemeentemuseum Het Hannemahuis has twenty-three paintings by him in its collection, including Ships in a Storm in the Outer Harbour of Harlingen (1810-1820) and the Franeker Poort in Harlingen (1813).
Baur was initially a wallpaper painter. In the Town Hall hang four wallpapers from a house in Harlingen. The wallpaper painter Baur developed into a meritorious marine painter. One of his most famous works is Skating competition for women on the Stadsgracht in Leeuwarden (1809), of which two versions exist. The first version (with Dutch flag) hangs in the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden, the second version (without Dutch flag) has been part of the permanent collection of the Rijksmuseum for several years.
Both paintings show the finish of a skating competition in 1809 between 64 unmarried women on Frisian skates. The main prize of the competition was a golden ear iron. The competition was a hype at the time. In 1805, the first competition between women on skates took place, won by Trijntje Pieters from Poppingawier. A letter writer got terribly upset about it: “What thoughtlessness, devoid of all feeling, is it not to wind up the weaker sex in such a murderous game, by enticing them with shining gold and jewels?”
The moralist then writes that the femkes did not even hesitate to “take off all their outer garments, whereby all the grace of their bodies was shown in a completely unfavourable way”. The writer appeals to the French King Louis Napoleon “to put a stop to this cruel game”.
Lodewijk Napoleon ("I am your rabbit") does not respond. Four years later the women were allowed to repeat the competition. Due to all the fuss, the competition had taken on mythical proportions. People considered it indecent that the women took off their jackets to be able to skate more freely. Their bare arms were clearly visible. Spectators flocked to Leeuwarden from all over Friesland. Houkje Gerrits van Veenwouden, her coat lying on the ice, won the competition by a nose.
The Frisian elite was so interested in this event that Baur painted and sold the finish of the speed skating race twice. Almost identical versions, except for the flag. What is striking is that one of the paintings was purchased in 1942 by order of Adolf Hitler for the Reich Chancellery in annexed Poland. The painting hung there until Poland was liberated by the Russians in 1945. After a long detour, the painting eventually ended up back in Friesland and was donated to the Rijksmuseum by a Frisian couple in 2013.
The typical cold winter air with trees covered in frost form the backdrop for the skating competition. On the right is the gunpowder tower and in the background are the Onze Lieve Vrouwenpoort and the Oldenhove.
oil on canvas, 60 x 75 cm
donation by Willem Jan Hacquebord and Houkje Anna Brandsma
Amsterdam already had an excellent reputation in the field of shipbuilding in the Middle Ages. A shipbuilding centre grew up on Bickerseiland with warehouses, ropewalks, shipyards, sawmills, tar-boiling works, anchor forges, etc. There was enormous activity until the 19th century, when wooden ships were slowly replaced by steam navigation.
oil on canvas on panel, 41 x 51 cm
loan from the Royal Antiquarian Society
Amsterdam already had an excellent reputation in the field of shipbuilding in the Middle Ages. A shipbuilding centre grew up on Bickerseiland with warehouses, ropewalks, shipyards, sawmills, tar-boiling works, anchor forges, etc. There was enormous activity until the 19th century, when wooden ships were slowly replaced by steam navigation.
oil on canvas on panel, 41 x 51 cm
loan from the Royal Antiquarian Society
Gorinchem received city rights in 1382. The city grew into an important trading city and therefore regularly clashed with Dordrecht.
In 1592 the city was taken by the Geuzen. Nineteen priests were captured and hanged in Den Briel in a peat barn. They are known as 'the martyrs of Gorkum'.
Breitner, the painter of Amsterdam city life, portrayed Gorinchem in a more sleepy period, more than a hundred years ago.
oil on panel, 48 x 26 cm
legacy of Mrs. MCJ Breitner-Jordan, Zeist
Abraham Couwenberg is a romantic painter from the 19th century who died young. His impressive skies are clearly inspired by 17th century painters such as Jacob van Ruisdael. Old Dutch ice skating fun. Or not? Can we also see this painting symbolically? Does Couwenberg want to remind us of the uncertain path of life by having people skate on thin ice? Are the sails of the mill in joy mode? And does the cathedral at the end of the ice path refer to divine destiny?
oil on canvas, 74 x 100 cm
Aelbert Cuyp painted his hometown with pleasure and frequently. His name is honored in Dordrecht with a work of art by Maria Roosen; abstract, because it is not known what he looked like. His work was and is very popular in England. Here is a copy of the left half of a large painting that now hangs in Ascott House in England.
In 1572, the First Free States Assembly took place in Dordrecht, where representatives from all Dutch cities supported the Revolt against Spanish rule.
A few centuries later, Dordrecht becomes the leader of the Patriots who want to regain freedom from the Oranges. This republican revolution will fail.
oil on canvas, 68 x 85 cm
loan from the municipality of Amsterdam (legacy A. van der Hoop)
The artist Christiaan Dreibholtz lived and worked for several years in Dordrecht, the city of his teacher JC Schotel. He made this painting there. From Papendrecht we look at the early nineteenth-century skyline of Dordrecht with the striking tower of the Grote Kerk and the dome of the Groothoofdspoort. The place chosen by Dreibholtz is the so-called three-river point where the Oude Maas, the Beneden Merwede and the Noord meet. Here he made the preliminary studies and sketches that he would later use in his studio when making the final painting.
oil on canvas, 77 x 102 cm
Dusart lived and worked his entire life in Haarlem. The market for sea fish was at the foot of the Grote Kerk. The fish was brought in by fishwives who walked daily along the Visserspad from Zandvoort to Haarlem, with the fish in wicker baskets on their backs. The fishing boats with fish would beach themselves on the beach of Zandvoort very early in the morning. Buyers would buy the fish and women would trudge barefoot through the dunes to Kraantje Lek. There they would put on their clogs and had to be at the market before ten o'clock.
oil on canvas, 68 x90 cm
This painting gives a lively impression of Amsterdam in the 18th century. On the left are the City Hall and the Nieuwe Kerk, on the right the Waag where some traders are carrying away their weighed goods, while others are standing in line. Amidst the hustle and bustle an elegant couple is finding their way. Behind them on the left a man is having his shoes shined.
oil on panel, 48 x 63 cm
legacy of jhr. JSH van de Poll, Amsterdam
Jan van Goyen was not so careful with photographic reality, but these portraits of Nijmegen and Arnhem are quite true to life. Van Goyen painted the Waal and the Valkhof castle in Nijmegen several times. The Romans already knew this strategic location and later also the German emperors and the counts of Gelre. The castle was demolished during the French period, with the consent of the population who wanted to erase the memory of authoritarian princes and opted for democracy.
oil on canvas, 92 x 130 cm
Arnhem, like Nijmegen, is a city with a rich history. Count Otto II granted the city city rights in 1233 with the words: “I, Otto, have made the place Arnhem a city and granted it all freedom, so that this city and the people who live in it and will live in it, may enjoy freedom.”
oil on panel, 26 x 42 cm
donation from Mr HWA Deterding, London
Willem Hoevenaar from Utrecht left us a beautiful cityscape of Amsterdam. Twenty years after his death, the Royal Antiquarian Society bought this painting and loaned it to the Rijksmuseum. We see the Amsterdam Slijpsteenmarkt, then located at the head of the Damrak. It was a busy neighborhood with traders, sailors and entertainment, but also the place where grinding stones were traded. A grinding stone is a stone with which knives and scissors are sharpened. Now an extinct profession, the scissor grinder.
oil on canvas, 63 x 55 cm
loan from the Royal Antiquarian Society
Following in the footsteps of Jan van Goyen, Frans de Hulst from Haarlem painted mainly landscapes. His Valkhof is clearly copied from Van Goyen's Valkhof. In Frans de Hulst's work, the ferry across the Waal only sails to the other side and there is a carriage on the ferry.
oil on panel, 37 x 58 cm
loan from the Koninklijk Oudheidkundig Genootschap
Jan Hulswit ran a wallpaper factory for a short time, but later devoted himself to painting landscapes and cityscapes. In his time, his paintings were very popular.
The Weteringpoortje was one of the smallest of the eight Amsterdam gates. It was located next to the current Rijksmuseum. The corn mill De Wetering stood proudly on the bulwark. From the Weteringpoortje you could be transported by rowing boat to the Stadlander inn just outside the city for a day of milking.
oil on panel, 28 x 37 cm
In France they still think that Jongkind is a French artist. He spent a large part of his life in France, although he always returned to his homeland to sketch. Johan Barthold Jongkind was born in 1819 and grew up in Maassluis. His talent was quickly recognized.
When Jongkind was 27, he went to France, with a grant from the Prince of Orange. At the World Exhibition of 1855 in Paris, at the age of 36, Jongkind represented France with three paintings. But he did not win any prizes, had enormous debts due to excessive drinking and fled back to the Netherlands, to the dismay of his French painter friends Corot, Daubigny and others. Jongkind went to live in Rotterdam, the city that received city rights in 1340 and where Erasmus was born in 1466. During his Rotterdam period he made a great many sketches in and around Rotterdam, Overschie, Dordrecht.
oil on canvas, 22 x 28 cm
legacy of Mr. A. van Wezel, Amsterdam
Jongkind's landscapes and cityscapes had something truly Dutch about them, with a division of two-thirds sky and one-third land. He also sketched at night and later developed his studies and watercolours into paintings. But even in Rotterdam he could not stay away from drink. He was lonely and unhappy and longed for Paris. His French friends helped him financially. They organised an auction to make his return possible. Eventually, after five years, he returned to Paris and would live in France until his death.
He regularly travelled from Paris to the Netherlands to sketch. He also sketched at night and, back in France, developed his studies and watercolours into paintings. This is also how his moonscapes of Overschie and Rotterdam came into being, with their characteristic interplay of light and dark. In the nocturnal landscape of Overschie we see a ship, a church tower, and the moon and clouds reflected in the water. The moon breaking through the clouds above a canal in Rotterdam is characteristic of his loose painting style. In France there was a great demand for his Dutch skies and moonscapes. When Jongkind died in 1891 there were still four unfinished paintings in his studio, including a view of Zouteveen, near Delft. Despite his years of residence in France, he had never lost his ties with the Netherlands. He was and remained a Dutchman in France, admired for his typically Dutch principles, such as his connection with observable reality. In the Louvre he is ranked among the French painters.
oil on canvas, 34 x 46 cm
legacy of Mr. JBAM Westerwoudt, Haarlem
Jan van Kessel is an Amsterdammer, a pupil of Jacob van Ruisdael. Van Kessel painted the Heiligewegspoort, traditionally the entrance for pilgrims, from the 'city freedom'. The 'city freedom' was an area outside the city wall, where city law still applied and which was marked with boundary posts. The gate symbolises a community of citizens, who make their own rules and choose their own administrators. In 1664 the gate was demolished due to urban expansion. Jan van Kessel was there just in time to record the bridge.
oil on canvas, 77 x 122 cm
On the canal at the Houtmarkt, two men push floating wooden rafts across the water. The High German synagogue can be seen behind the trees on the left, the Portuguese synagogue on the right. The fact that Jewish houses of worship were so openly present in the streetscape here was seen as a sign of Dutch tolerance. Nowadays, the Houtmarkt is called the Jonas Daniël Meijerplein. Jonas Daniël Meijer was the first Jewish lawyer in the Netherlands.
oil on panel, 36 x 49 cm
legacy of AAM Sträter, Amsterdam
The 17th century canal belt remained the pleasant territory of the well-to-do bourgeoisie in the 18th century. Income differences in the city were great. On the left is Herengracht 436, where the respectable Van Wijckerslooth couple are standing on the stairs. Below, a street vendor is trying to sell his umbrellas.
oil on panel, 54 x 72 cm
legacy of Mrs. H. Gluyssteen-van Ommeren, Amsterdam
The horse harness is already in the sleigh. The boy has the skates in his left hand. Above the door hangs the nameplate of the saddler. And on the wall hangs another sign with the inscription: This house is for sale from the hand(d).
Dirk Jan van der Laan painted purely for his own pleasure. He lived in Zwolle, worked there as a clerk at the local court and was a member of the city council.
oil on panel, 27 x 35 cm
loan from the municipality of Amsterdam (legacy A. van der Hoop)
It must be Amsterdam, and the dome looks a lot like that of the Ronde Lutherse kerk on the Singel. A typical statement by Jacob Maris: “Why shouldn't I be allowed to build my own cities. If I find it necessary to break the long straight roof lines, I put a domed roof on them; especially where the sky or cloud formation requires such support.” With a skillful hand, Maris painted the lively cloudy sky and through the sharp contrast between the row of houses and the clouds, both gain in strength.
oil on canvas, 52 x 80 cm
legacy of Mrs. AE Reich-Hohwü
The area around The Hague looked completely different 130 years ago than it does today, as this painting shows. Jacob Maris chose a foreground with houses, a man in a rowing boat and some pollard willows.
Two thirds are formed by the cloud mass, enlivened by a few abstracted birds. The cumulus clouds are reflected in the water in the foreground. The background is vaguer because of the atmosphere, but a mill in the view is still recognizable.
oil on canvas, 45x48 cm
donation from Mr. and Mrs. Drucker-Fraser, Montreux
The Schreierstoren in the middle of this cityscape was built around 1497 as part of the city wall of Amsterdam. We will not quickly find a clear blue sky with Jacob Maris. His cloud formations contribute greatly to the atmosphere of his paintings. The liveliness is increased by the ships that lie in the Oosterdok.
The facade moldings and the roof on the left still catch a glimmer of sunlight, which finds its way between the cumulus clouds.
oil on canvas, 83 x 112 cm
donation from the heirs of Mr. WJ van Randwijk, The Hague
On this atmospheric harbour view the horizon merges seamlessly into the sky that turns yellow due to the scattering of light. The smoke development on board one of the ships completes the connection.
The masts make the work recognizable as a harbor, but the rest is much more abstract than Jacob Maris was used to doing. The water and the sky are depicted with sure brushstrokes and to create some more depth, Maris added a number of seagulls.
oil on canvas, 31 x 46 cm
legacy of Mrs. AE Reich-Hohwü
Three quarters of this painting consists of sky and the cumulus clouds make the typical Dutch skies prominently present. Yet the foreground with a harbour and various dolphins and jetties demands the most attention. By adding a higher accent both left and right, the focus on the centre of this harbour view is strengthened.
oil on canvas, 51 x 78 cm
legacy of Mr. A. van Wezel, Amsterdam
When Amsterdam received the toll privilege from Floris V in 1275, it was not yet a city; although this date is used by the city council to celebrate anniversaries. It was not until 1306 that the settlement at the dam on the Amstel received city rights from the bishop. Amsterdam was given its own jurisdiction, its own 'freedom'.
Souvenir d'Amsterdam is one of the most famous paintings by Matthijs Maris. He painted it in 1871 in Paris, based on a photo he had bought of the drawbridge at the Haarlemmersluis, using his memory and imagination. He was not too strict about the accuracy of the depiction. The drawbridge had already been demolished in the meantime and replaced by a permanent bridge. Did Maris portray himself as a jib in the foreground, peering at the passing woman at the helm? Matthijs Maris painted this work in seven days, purely to earn some money. He was as poor as a rat and actually detested working for the art market. His Drawbridge was bought by a Scottish art dealer.
Jenny Reynaerts writes: “In 1874-1875 Van Gogh met Matthijs Maris at the art dealership in London where he worked at the time. He admired ‘Thijs’ enormously, partly because of his painting Souvenir d'Amsterdam […] He asked Maris if he could become his pupil, but he characteristically advised him against it: “[...] the best he could do was to hang himself.” […] Maris was a great admirer of Camille Corot, who often described his landscapes as ‘souvenirs’ and preferred to evoke the memory of them rather than paint a true-to-life representation.[…] Because of this view, both Corot and Maris were greatly admired by the later Tachtigers, who were also interested in personal experience.”
When Matthijs himself later saw the work hanging in the art dealer's room, he was ashamed of it and wrote about it: "I was embarrassed by it. Those things are not mine. I had made it, but completely against my better judgment, for the money."
Matthijs Maris is the middle of the three painting brothers, Jacob, Matthijs and Willem. Jacob and Willem Maris were popular. These two brothers are still popular and well represented in the selection for Low Countries, Cool Waters and High Skies. They painted the Netherlands, as we like to see it, with cows, beach scenes and cloudy skies.
Matthijs Maris did not want to make concessions to the public's taste. He lived in poverty for years, was lonely, a recluse in his studio; an oddball with cult status, misunderstood and maladjusted. He could be irritable and was unpleasant to be around.
With his great desire for freedom and autonomy, he nevertheless fits the theme of High Skies. He loved the big city, Paris and London, because he could be more himself there. Matthijs Maris died in London in 1917, admired by a host of Englishmen for his mysterious oeuvre.
oil on canvas, 47 x 35 cm
donation from the heirs of Mr. WJ van Randwijk, The Hague
Isaac Ouwater lived his entire life in Amsterdam. The impressive city hall, an expression of the power of the wealthy bourgeoisie, is the most important monument from the Golden Age in the city. The costs of building the city hall were so high that the tower for the Nieuwe Kerk remained unfinished.
oil on canvas, 59 x 73 cm
Amsterdam rested on three pillars: the powerful bourgeoisie, the frugal Protestant church and the flourishing trade. The Waag, on the current Nieuwmarkt, was a symbol of that trade.
oil on canvas, 60 x 74 cm
With fluent strokes, Rochussen depicted what he saw daily from his studio window; a snapshot of Amsterdam street life. It is somewhat reminiscent of Breitner's work. This is no coincidence, as Breitner was a student of Rochussen.
The artist was quite attached to this painting, it always remained in his possession. This memory in paint documents the changing cityscape. The stone bridge above the Osjessluis disappeared when the Spui was filled in in 1882. Shortly afterwards, the first electric trams ran on the Spui.
oil on panel, 32 x 24 cm
loan from the Koninklijk Oudheidkundig Genootschap
Hundreds of sketches and a handful of paintings by Andreas Schelfhout from The Hague are in the depot of the Rijksmuseum. This domestic scene with a mother, two children and a dog in a courtyard in the neighborhood, could fit on a cookie tin.
oil on panel, 45 x 40 cm
Dordrecht considers itself the oldest city in Holland and acquired city rights in 1220. This cityscape with the city hall is signed by Schoenmakers and Schotel, two painters from Dordrecht. Originally, the city hall of Dordrecht was a market hall for exiled Flemish merchants who traded cloth there. In 1544, the city's administrators moved into the building.
oil on panel, 50 x 64 cm
A city canal that runs behind the houses; on the quay a woman chatting with a man on a barge. It is a typical representation of the artist Ferdinand Sierich. This painter from The Hague made a name for himself with his romantic city and beach scenes. Initially he worked as an instrument maker in his father's business, but Sierich aspired to a career as a painter. It was not until he was twenty-eight that he was able to devote himself entirely to painting.
He was good friends with the Maris brothers and, like several Hague School artists, worked regularly in the woods near Oosterbeek.
oil on canvas, 51 x 42 cm
donation from Mrs. W. Korthals Altes, Amsterdam
After the Belgian Uprising in 1830 and the subsequent secession, the northern part of the Netherlands had to search for its own identity. Great names such as Michiel de Ruyter and Rembrandt van Rijn were used to instill national pride. Rembrandt was honored in 1852 with the erection of a statue. The Amsterdam Parkzaal was decorated with paintings of cities where he is said to have worked.
The painting by Cornelis Springer is a preliminary study for one of these cityscapes, that of The Hague. Only later was it discovered that Rembrandt never worked in the Hofstad.
oil on canvas, 48 x 58 cm
donation from Mrs. JH Springer, Haarlem
No trace of decay or economic crisis. Nowhere is the pavement as clean as in a 19th-century Dutch cityscape. In 1868, Springer painted a corner of Enkhuizen that dates from the 17th century: the Zuiderhavendijk and the Zuiderspui with the Spuihuisje at the end. In fact, Springer did here what Monumentenzorg would later do in real life: he preserved a protected cityscape.
oil on panel, 50 x65 cm
legacy of Mr. JBAM Westerwoudt, Haarlem
Balthasar van der Veen was an Amsterdammer who saw much of the world and died in Haarlem. His painting shows the Eendjespoort, the Spaarne and the Bavokerk.
At that time, the Eendjespoort was the departure point for the ferry boats to Leiden. The gate was demolished in 1866.
oil on panel, 75 x 109 cm
donation from Mr. A. Bredius, The Hague
Pieter Vertin is a clone of Cornelis Springer, but less talented. His work is considered to be part of the Hague Romanticism and consists largely of Dutch cityscapes. This painting is dominated by the Koepoort and a white drawbridge that lies over the canal. The name Koepoort refers to the fact that cows from Delft were driven through the gate at the time to spend the night in the meadows.
In the past, there were several farms within the city walls where cattle were kept. In the background, the tower of the Old Church in Delft can be seen.
oil on panel, 16 x 22 cm
legacy of jhr. PA van den Velden, The Hague
Jan Weissenbruch, not to be confused with his slightly younger cousin Johan Hendrik Weissenbruch. That cousin was represented with a dune landscape and with a beach view in Lage Landen en Koele Wateren. To distinguish them from each other, Jan was called 'the romantic Weis and cousin Johan Hendrik 'the cheerful Weis'. Both cousins made strategic use of the color white, their secret weapon. The white city gate of Leerdam stands prominently in the middle of the backlight. The sunlight falls on the white plastered lower walls and the white hoods of two 'coincidentally' present women.
Jan Weissenbruch was an artist from The Hague, born in 1822 and died in 1880 in The Hague. His paintings seem very realistic, but in fact he transformed reality into his painting hand. He turned the city gate of Leerdam 180 degrees, because he found the outside more interesting than the city side. The boom and mast of a flat-bottomed boat in the water behind the city wall are just visible. The chosen moment is also no coincidence. After a rain shower, the sun shines brightly again and everything is bathed in a bright light. Leerdam is a town on the Linge, which was granted city rights in 1382 by Otto van Arkel and confirmed again in 1407 by Willem VI of Holland.
The painting dates from 1869. The Steigerpoort was already demolished in 1863, so Jan Weissenbruch based his work on the sketches he made around 1860 in Leerdam. One of those sketches of the city gate is in the possession of the Teylers Museum. He later made powerful compositions of those sketches in his studio, with the necessary artistic freedom.
Jan Weissenbruch preferred to paint in old towns along the Lek, Hollandse IJssel and Linge. With blue skies and clear lines he depicted the old gates, city walls and houses that would be demolished at a rapid pace to make way for modern times.
The work of Jan Weissenbruch has a romantic, nostalgic touch. It puts you in a languid, blissful mood. And it is precisely the combination of the straight lines, the detailed drainpipes, the sober staging that makes this painting a masterpiece. A combination of romanticism and realism. It is not for nothing that Jan Weissenbruch is called 'the Vermeer of the 19th century'.
oil on canvas, 77 x 104 cm
On the Roode Steen three important buildings of the city of Hoorn: the Town Hall, the Waag and the Statencollege (now the Westfries Museum).
oil on canvas, 67 x 57 cm
collection Westfries Museum