Rotterdam by night – Carl Johan Billmark, ca. 1859

“Rotterdam,” lithograph made around 1859 by Carl Johan Billmark after a sketch by J. M. Stäck, printed by Lemercier in Paris. Size: 19.2 × 28.5 cm.

The view depicts the Oudehaven in Rotterdam, with the Kleine Draaibrug and the tower of the Laurenskerk in the background.

In the nineteenth century, the Oudehaven still formed a functional part of the city’s commercial network, although it was no longer the beating heart of international maritime trade that it had been in the seventeenth century. By the mid-nineteenth century, Rotterdam was expanding rapidly as a result of industrialisation and population growth. New harbours and infrastructural projects (such as the Boompjes, and later the Rijnhaven and the widening of the Maas) were under development or in planning. Nevertheless, the Oudehaven remained a lively hub for inland shipping, transhipment, and local trade.

The composition belongs to the romantic-picturesque tradition of nineteenth-century city views. Nocturnal urban scenes were particularly popular for their atmosphere, sense of introspection, and their play of light and shadow.

Carl Johan Billmark (1804–1870) was a Swedish lithographer and draughtsman, active mainly in Paris.

Price: Euro 450,-