Ouderkerk aan de Amstel – after Abraham de Haen, 1749
€1.450
Ouderkerk aan de Amstel seen from the Amsteldijk. Drawing with pen and wash attributed to Johannes Schouten. Verso annotated “Ouderkerk aan den Amstel 1729, Na A: de Haen 1749.” Size: 15.9 x 31.5 cm.
We see the village from the Amsteldijk, with the Reformed Church on the right (which was replaced by the Amstelkerk in 1775). On the left bank stand the domed pavilions belonging to the estate Hooger-Lust. Between them is the Lange Brug (Long Bridge), which connects the Amsteldijk to the village.
Ouderkerk aan de Amstel was historically an important stopover on the route from Amsterdam to Utrecht. From Amsterdam, the route followed the west bank of the Amstel River. Just past Paardenburg, travelers would cross a bridge over the Amstel into the Brugstraat in Ouderkerk. Via Dorpsstraat, Kerkstraat, and the bridge over the Bullewijk, they would reach the west bank of the Bullewijk (Ronde Hoep Oost) and continue via the south bank of the Holendrecht River to Abcoude. The city of Amsterdam managed this road up to the toll at the Voetangel, a well-known inn at the junction of the Waver, Holendrecht, and Bullewijk rivers.
Until the seventeenth century, Ouderkerk served as a support center for the surrounding region, where livestock farming and fishing were the main sources of livelihood. Later, wealthy city dwellers established country estates along the rivers — leafy enclaves with grand houses lining the former main (water) routes.
The Amsterdam City Archives, holds a drawing by Cornelis Pronk (1691–1759), made in 1729 from the same viewpoint on the Amstel river. Pronk was likely accompanied that day by his student Abraham de Haen (1707–1748), who also created a drawing of the idyllic Ouderkerk. Today, the whereabouts of De Haen’s drawing are unknown, but in 1749 it was likely in the possession of Johannes Schouten, who copied it and mentioned this on the back of his own work.
Johannes Schouten (1716–1792) initially worked as a diamond setter and silversmith, but he also took up drawing cityscapes. Topographical drawings like this were very popular in the second half of the eighteenth century. In 1756, Schouten became a member of the Amsterdam booksellers’ guild as an art dealer and opened an art shop on the Leidsestraat, between the Herengracht and Keizersgracht canals. After his death, his widow continued the silversmith shop. His son, Hermanus Petrus Schouten, also became a well-known draughtsman.
Price: Euro 1.450,-
