Cornelis Springer (1817-1891)
A view of the Munttoren in Amsterdam
signed and dated 'C Springer. 77.' (lower left); indistinctly annotated (on an original label attached to the reverse with two artist's wax stamps 'CS')
oil on panel, 58,5x46,5 cm
Learn more about this work through our expert's voice video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPFysXjYphc
Literature:
-W. Laanstra, H.C. de Bruijn and J.H.A. Ringeling, monograph ‘Cornelis Springer (1817-1891)’, Tableau, Utrecht 1984, ill. p. 194, no. 77-3, as: ‘De Munt- of Regulierstoren te Amsterdam bij zomer’.
-W. Laanstra, ‘Cornelis Springer en het getekende stadsgezicht’, Tableau, Erratum II, 1989, ill. p. 60, no. 77-3.
Provenance:
-Acquired directly from the artist on 27 June 1877 by C.M. van Gogh, Amsterdam (for 1,000 Dfl.).
-Auction, Mak van Waay, Amsterdam, 25 May 1971, lot 555 (cover of the catalogue).
-Auction, Sotheby’s, Amsterdam, 4 April 1989, lot 213.
-Auction, Glerum, The Hague, 11 June 1990, lot 178a.
-With Kunsthandel Leslie Smith, where acquired by the present owner.
Cornelis Springer, 'The Greatest Painter Among Architects’
In the second half of the nineteenth century, the plea in favour of special, old buildings intensified and buildings in historical styles was built worldwide; a sign of general acceptance of and appreciation for the historical.
The pioneer of the nineteenth-century revaluation of the architecture of bygone days was Romantic painting, especially that of cityscapes and that of Cornelis Springer. As a descendant of an Amsterdam family of city carpenters and master builders, he had an innate understanding of architecture. This insight into architecture, together with his talent for drawing and painting made him the cityscapes painter of the Dutch Romantic painting. It is not known whether Cornelis Springer actually promoted the preservation of old buildings.
Nevertheless, Cornelis Springer was an honorary member of the Genootschap Architectura et Amicitia and in the society's journal on his death in 1891 was written: ‘He, who is the greatest painter among architects and the greatest architect among painters, may be regarded as eminently gifted not only to rescue picturesque places from oblivion, which also have architectural value but also, through his art, to draw the attention to the many beauteous building that our Dutch cities possess and which are so often neglected’. On behalf of the Society, his grave was commemorated with ‘the great influence Springer's work has had on the revival of our national architectural style’.
Springer's paintings have a limited documentary significance. The preliminary studies - sketches that Springer made - provide a more accurate representation of the built reality. He literally and figuratively coloured in reality by transposing and elaborating the sketches into a painting. Springer was open to the picturesque aspects of architecture and composed attractive canvases, splendid reminders of much urban beauty, in which the 'Dutch national styles' came into their own. In his paintings, people are often clad in seventeenth-century clothing and he modified the buildings with Classicist elements, straight cornices, and eighteenth- or nineteenth-century sash windows were replaced by pinnacles, gables, and crosses.
The Mint in Amsterdam.
This former city gate originally consisted of two towers and a central section with a passageway. In 1619, most of the Regulierspoort burned down. The eastern tower and the entrance were reduced to ashes. The west tower was severely damaged. Only the guardhouse, which had been built against the west tower a year earlier, was spared. The western tower was rebuilt a year later to a design by Hendrick de Keyser.
In the Disaster Year 1672, when the Republic of the Netherlands was attacked by England, France, the dioceses of Cologne and Munster, and large parts of our country were occupied, there was a great need for money to pay for the fight against the occupier. Since the existing mints were located in occupied territory, it was decided that the minting of silver and gold coins during the occupation be carried out in free Amsterdam. For this purpose, the stone guardhouse of the Regulierspoort at the end of the Kalverstraat was designated for this purpose. And although the minting of coins lasted only a year, the name 'Munt' continued to be used, not least because the mint building was now furnished as an inn 'de Munt'. This tavern remained in use until 1877, the year in which it was demolished due to declining interest of guests and was replaced by the building that still stands today in a modified form.
The work now on offer at auction dates from 1877 and shows the Munt tower and the 'Logement De Munt'. The logement has a low extension with a classical entrance on the street side. This version of the building has more in common with his brother's new design than with the actual situation at the time of painting. Willem Springer, two years older than his brother Cornelis, designed the new building in the Neo-Renaissance style, where the entrance was incorporated into the facade and the low extension visible in the painting disappeared. The building as depicted by Cornelis in the painting is an idealized representation of the old situation in the 17th century. A photograph by Andries Jager from 1875 does not show evidence of the austerity as seen in the work of Cornelis and in Willem's renovated building. Willem Springer's building initially housed the Antiquarian Society, with rooms and a library. Today, it houses a shop selling Delft blue. The execution of Willem Springer’s design was considerably altered in 1938-39 to include a pedestrian passage. This passageway was designed by Piet Kramer. The gable tops above Springer's original central bays were removed.
The two location photographs from 1875 and 1887 illustrate the differences between the actual situation in 1875, the Cornelis Springer's presentation from 1877 and the new building designed by Willem Springer in the same year.
Source:
Dirk J. de Vries, ‘Kijken, meten en tekenen. Het belang van bouwhistorisch onderzoek voor de monumentenzorg’ in Jaarboek Monumentenzorg 1997.
Digital sources:
Amsterdamsverleden.nl
Amsterdamopdekaart.nl
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
A view of the Munttoren in Amsterdam
signed and dated 'C Springer. 77.' (lower left); indistinctly annotated (on an original label attached to the reverse with two artist's wax stamps 'CS')
oil on panel, 58,5x46,5 cm
Learn more about this work through our expert's voice video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPFysXjYphc
Literature:
-W. Laanstra, H.C. de Bruijn and J.H.A. Ringeling, monograph ‘Cornelis Springer (1817-1891)’, Tableau, Utrecht 1984, ill. p. 194, no. 77-3, as: ‘De Munt- of Regulierstoren te Amsterdam bij zomer’.
-W. Laanstra, ‘Cornelis Springer en het getekende stadsgezicht’, Tableau, Erratum II, 1989, ill. p. 60, no. 77-3.
Provenance:
-Acquired directly from the artist on 27 June 1877 by C.M. van Gogh, Amsterdam (for 1,000 Dfl.).
-Auction, Mak van Waay, Amsterdam, 25 May 1971, lot 555 (cover of the catalogue).
-Auction, Sotheby’s, Amsterdam, 4 April 1989, lot 213.
-Auction, Glerum, The Hague, 11 June 1990, lot 178a.
-With Kunsthandel Leslie Smith, where acquired by the present owner.
Cornelis Springer, 'The Greatest Painter Among Architects’
In the second half of the nineteenth century, the plea in favour of special, old buildings intensified and buildings in historical styles was built worldwide; a sign of general acceptance of and appreciation for the historical.
The pioneer of the nineteenth-century revaluation of the architecture of bygone days was Romantic painting, especially that of cityscapes and that of Cornelis Springer. As a descendant of an Amsterdam family of city carpenters and master builders, he had an innate understanding of architecture. This insight into architecture, together with his talent for drawing and painting made him the cityscapes painter of the Dutch Romantic painting. It is not known whether Cornelis Springer actually promoted the preservation of old buildings.
Nevertheless, Cornelis Springer was an honorary member of the Genootschap Architectura et Amicitia and in the society's journal on his death in 1891 was written: ‘He, who is the greatest painter among architects and the greatest architect among painters, may be regarded as eminently gifted not only to rescue picturesque places from oblivion, which also have architectural value but also, through his art, to draw the attention to the many beauteous building that our Dutch cities possess and which are so often neglected’. On behalf of the Society, his grave was commemorated with ‘the great influence Springer's work has had on the revival of our national architectural style’.
Springer's paintings have a limited documentary significance. The preliminary studies - sketches that Springer made - provide a more accurate representation of the built reality. He literally and figuratively coloured in reality by transposing and elaborating the sketches into a painting. Springer was open to the picturesque aspects of architecture and composed attractive canvases, splendid reminders of much urban beauty, in which the 'Dutch national styles' came into their own. In his paintings, people are often clad in seventeenth-century clothing and he modified the buildings with Classicist elements, straight cornices, and eighteenth- or nineteenth-century sash windows were replaced by pinnacles, gables, and crosses.
The Mint in Amsterdam.
This former city gate originally consisted of two towers and a central section with a passageway. In 1619, most of the Regulierspoort burned down. The eastern tower and the entrance were reduced to ashes. The west tower was severely damaged. Only the guardhouse, which had been built against the west tower a year earlier, was spared. The western tower was rebuilt a year later to a design by Hendrick de Keyser.
In the Disaster Year 1672, when the Republic of the Netherlands was attacked by England, France, the dioceses of Cologne and Munster, and large parts of our country were occupied, there was a great need for money to pay for the fight against the occupier. Since the existing mints were located in occupied territory, it was decided that the minting of silver and gold coins during the occupation be carried out in free Amsterdam. For this purpose, the stone guardhouse of the Regulierspoort at the end of the Kalverstraat was designated for this purpose. And although the minting of coins lasted only a year, the name 'Munt' continued to be used, not least because the mint building was now furnished as an inn 'de Munt'. This tavern remained in use until 1877, the year in which it was demolished due to declining interest of guests and was replaced by the building that still stands today in a modified form.
The work now on offer at auction dates from 1877 and shows the Munt tower and the 'Logement De Munt'. The logement has a low extension with a classical entrance on the street side. This version of the building has more in common with his brother's new design than with the actual situation at the time of painting. Willem Springer, two years older than his brother Cornelis, designed the new building in the Neo-Renaissance style, where the entrance was incorporated into the facade and the low extension visible in the painting disappeared. The building as depicted by Cornelis in the painting is an idealized representation of the old situation in the 17th century. A photograph by Andries Jager from 1875 does not show evidence of the austerity as seen in the work of Cornelis and in Willem's renovated building. Willem Springer's building initially housed the Antiquarian Society, with rooms and a library. Today, it houses a shop selling Delft blue. The execution of Willem Springer’s design was considerably altered in 1938-39 to include a pedestrian passage. This passageway was designed by Piet Kramer. The gable tops above Springer's original central bays were removed.
The two location photographs from 1875 and 1887 illustrate the differences between the actual situation in 1875, the Cornelis Springer's presentation from 1877 and the new building designed by Willem Springer in the same year.
Source:
Dirk J. de Vries, ‘Kijken, meten en tekenen. Het belang van bouwhistorisch onderzoek voor de monumentenzorg’ in Jaarboek Monumentenzorg 1997.
Digital sources:
Amsterdamsverleden.nl
Amsterdamopdekaart.nl
Estimate
Time, Location
Auction House
