A dockyard on the Northern shore of the Amsterdam harbour

Van Deventer received his first painting lessons from his uncle, Hendrik van de Sande Bakhuyzen, like his brother, Jan Frederik van Deventer, who was a landscape painter. Van Deventer attended the The Hague Academy from 1843 to 1846, where the marine painters Sam Verveer and Anthonie Waldorp taught at the time and where his interest for marine painting started. He specialized in romantic river scenes, marines and harbour scenes. In 1844 he was invited by the Royal Navy to go on a journey in the Mediterranean for five months. From 1852 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Amsterdam. He worked in Amsterdam for several year, where the present lot was painted in 1855. It depicts the harbour of Amsterdam, which went through numerous changes throughout the nineteenth century. In 1825 the Noorhollands Kanaal was completed, which connected the Amsterdam harbour with Den Helder. As the present lot shows, further developments in the harbour were to be completed throughout the nineteenth century, like the Noordzeekanaal which was finished in 1876. Van Deventer moved back to The Hague in 1862.