National Gallery of Art :: The Collection :: View of Hoorn
  • Overview
  • Provenance
  • Exhibition History
  • Bibliography

Overview

In this atmospheric painting, Abraham de Verwer has depicted the Dutch city of Hoorn from the south, the view that greeted ships as they sailed the Zuiderzee toward this important port that served as a major center for trade to the Baltic, the West Indies, and the East Indies. From De Verwer's low and distant vantage point, Hoorn's distinctive city profile is barely distinguishable. To the right of the three-masted sailing ship in the distance is the tower of the massive structure at the harbor's entrance. The towers of the city's Noorderkerk (North Church), Grote Kerk (Great Church), and Oosterkerk (East Church) are just visible above the buildings lining the harbor and the masts of ships moored within it, all of which De Verwer silhouetted in muted browns against the gray sky.

The artist suggested the water's expanse by modulating the way light reflects against its surface, moving from a darker foreground to lighter tonalities near the horizon. He also rendered the distant cityscape with great delicacy, carefully articulating the buildings, the ships, and the breakwater that formed the outer perimeter of the harbor. A bank of clouds stretches across the late afternoon sky, with only the water's ripples, some fluttering flags, and a gliding sailboat to suggest the gentle breezes passing over the scene. The only activity of note in this serene image occurs on the deck of the large sailing ship at the left, where a group of sailors grasp lines from a block and tackle attached to the square rigging. They and a group of workmen to their right appear to be moving cargo into or out of the ship's hold, presumably cargo that has been brought, or will be taken, by the small boat (wijtschip) moored alongside. Just why this transfer of cargo is being made outside Hoorn's harbor is uncertain, although it may well have been a matter of economics: ships had to pay a fee when they entered the harbor.

Abraham de Verwer was born in Haarlem, where he apparently studied with Hendrick Vroom to become a marine painter. In 1617 De Verwer moved to Amsterdam and painted large, brightly colored and highly detailed depictions of marine battles in the manner of Vroom. De Verwer's atmospheric depiction of Hoorn dates from mid-1645 and reflects stylistic transformations then occurring in Dutch art, particularly in the work of Simon de Vlieger, who moved to Amsterdam in 1643. But it also reflects experiences De Verwer had in France in the late 1630s, when he made a series of drawings of French ports, possibly at the behest of Prince Frederik Hendrik of Orange. While in France, De Verwer also painted seven townscapes in Paris, including four of the Louvre, two of which he later sold to the prince.

After De Verwer returned to Amsterdam in 1641, he painted very little, but he did make a series of remarkably spare drawings of cities along the Dutch coast that largely serve as the basis of attribution for this painting. Unfortunately, no commission for De Verwer's View of Hoorn is known, and the circumstances under which he executed this remarkable work remain a mystery. The addition of this painting to the Gallery's collection was made possible through a gift of the Derald H. Ruttenberg Memorial Fund.

Inscription

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Marks and Labels

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Provenance

Mr. and Mrs. Arnoud Waller, Lunteren; by descent in their family; (Johnny van Haeften, London); sold May 2008 to NGA.

Exhibition History

1964
Zee- Rivier- en Oevergezichten: Nederlandse schilderijen uit de zeventiende eeuw, Dordrechts Museum, 1964, no. 1, fig. 92, as Dutch 17th Century.
2008
Pride of Place: Dutch Cityscapes of the Golden Age, Royal Picture House Mauritshuis, The Hague; National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2008-2009, no. 46, repro.

Bibliography

2008
Wheelock, Arthur K., Jr. "Abraham de Verwer, View of Hoorn." Bulletin / National Gallery of Art, no. 39 (Fall 2008): 22-23, repro.
2009
Wilkin, Karen. "Haarlem Renaissance." The New Criterion 27, no. 6 (February 2009): 48.

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