Lot Essay
Cornelis Springer is considered to be one of the most important and influential Dutch architectural painters of the 19th century. Born into an Amsterdam family of building contractors and architects, he became the townscape painter par excellence of his time. He began his artistic education under the tutelage of the well-known and celebrated architectural painter Kasparus Karsen, and in the two years that Springer was Kersen’s apprentice, he would learn how to create capriccio city views intertwined with topographically correct elements. It was the contemporary trend for painters in his circles to idealize the past and especially the Dutch national heritage. However, from the 1850s onwards, Springer moved towards more realistic subject matter. He abandoned the fantasy elements within his work and concentrated on capturing topographical locations in exacting detail.
The present lot is an excellent example of Springer's earlier style fusing real topography with capriccio elements. Although Springer most often depicted his hometown Amsterdam, he also painted a number of other Dutch towns, including Haarlem, Enkhuizen, Zwolle, Kampen and Monnickendam. Depicted here is Nijmegen, one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands. Due to its geographic location near the German border, the city was fortified heavily for a number of years, and endured numerous sieges and battles over the centuries, though it remains a jewel of history and architecture today. The church at right is easily identifiable as St. Stephen's Church by its distinctive portico entrance, the Zuiderportaal. Construction on the church began in 1254, in the Romanesque style. In the centuries that followed, work continued on the church in the new architectural fashion, Gothic, which the church remains a fine example of today. In 1944, it was heavily damaged in the allied bombing of Nijmegen, including loss of the main spire, but was rebuilt after the war with the restored spire being completed in 1969.
While the church is beautifully and largely accurately rendered, the surrounding buildings illustrate Springer’s more imaginative approach to the composition, widening the area in front of the Zuiderportaal into an open square, and adding some buildings directly abutting the church at extreme right to create a clean diagonal plane through the center of the composition. This diagonal plane draws the spectator into the sunlit market, where the townspeople are engaged in their daily activities. Two main groups anchor the composition, one bathed in light in the foreground and other softened in the shadows in the background. Even in the shadowy areas of the composition the effects of indirect light are captured in detail, and the artist’s inclusion of small details like items dropped or discarded on the ground gives the work a sense of veracity. The brilliant play of strongly contrasting light and shadows, the detailed rendering of the historical gables and other architectural details, as well as his lively staffage clearly demonstrate all the artistic and technical skills for which Cornelis Springer is rightfully famous.
The present lot is an excellent example of Springer's earlier style fusing real topography with capriccio elements. Although Springer most often depicted his hometown Amsterdam, he also painted a number of other Dutch towns, including Haarlem, Enkhuizen, Zwolle, Kampen and Monnickendam. Depicted here is Nijmegen, one of the oldest cities in the Netherlands. Due to its geographic location near the German border, the city was fortified heavily for a number of years, and endured numerous sieges and battles over the centuries, though it remains a jewel of history and architecture today. The church at right is easily identifiable as St. Stephen's Church by its distinctive portico entrance, the Zuiderportaal. Construction on the church began in 1254, in the Romanesque style. In the centuries that followed, work continued on the church in the new architectural fashion, Gothic, which the church remains a fine example of today. In 1944, it was heavily damaged in the allied bombing of Nijmegen, including loss of the main spire, but was rebuilt after the war with the restored spire being completed in 1969.
While the church is beautifully and largely accurately rendered, the surrounding buildings illustrate Springer’s more imaginative approach to the composition, widening the area in front of the Zuiderportaal into an open square, and adding some buildings directly abutting the church at extreme right to create a clean diagonal plane through the center of the composition. This diagonal plane draws the spectator into the sunlit market, where the townspeople are engaged in their daily activities. Two main groups anchor the composition, one bathed in light in the foreground and other softened in the shadows in the background. Even in the shadowy areas of the composition the effects of indirect light are captured in detail, and the artist’s inclusion of small details like items dropped or discarded on the ground gives the work a sense of veracity. The brilliant play of strongly contrasting light and shadows, the detailed rendering of the historical gables and other architectural details, as well as his lively staffage clearly demonstrate all the artistic and technical skills for which Cornelis Springer is rightfully famous.