Rotterdam harbour – Eugène Rensburg, 1918

THE PORT OF ROTTERDAM

Drawing in pen and Indian ink with watercolour by Eugène Rensburg (1872–1956), signed “Eug. Rensburg. 1918.” Size: 39.2 × 66 cm.

There is bustling activity on the water in the port of Rotterdam. Steam tugboats come and go, towing unmotorised barges to their berths. Large cargo steamers lie at anchor, while a mooring buoy remains free in the foreground. The city unfolds behind them: to the left the Leuvehaven, the Maaskade with the Boompjes and Oostindisch Huis, and in the distance the towers of the St. Lawrence Church and the Zuiderkerk.

With his delicate linework, Rensburg captures the characteristic dynamism of Rotterdam’s inner harbour shortly after the First World War. The Leuvehaven, laid out in the 17th century, was still the beating heart of the city’s trade and shipping, with quays lined with cranes, warehouses, and shipyards.

A native of a Rotterdam artist family, Rensburg was renowned for his precise city views and topographical drawings of South Holland. In this work, he combines documentary accuracy with a light, almost impressionistic atmosphere, making the drawing both a historical document and an artistic evocation of Rotterdam’s pre-war harbour life.

Price: Euro 1.250,-