Lot 41: A view of the ‘Zuider Buiten Spaarne’, with shipping in the foreground

Laurens Vincentsz. van der Vinne (Haarlem 1658-1729) A view of the ‘Zuider Buiten Spaarne’, with shipping in the foreground with signature and date 'L. vande Vinne · 1695' (lower left) oil on canvas 73.3 x 125.3 cm.

73.3 x 125.3 cm.

B.C. Sliggers, 'Een schilderij van Vlietzorg en Zorgvliet aan het Zuider Buiten Spaarne omstreeks 1700', in: Haerlem Jaarboek, 1991, pp. 98-109, ill. p. 107.

Possibly collection of the artist (his estate inventory of 1702 mentions a “watergezicht”). Anonymous sale; Phillips, London, 16 February 1988, lot 75. Anonymous sale; Servarts, Brussels, 12-14 November 1991, lot 329. Private collection, Germany. Anonymous sale; Van Ham, Cologne, 19 November 2010, lot 521.

At the beginning of the seventeenth century it became fashionable for the Haarlem bourgeoisie to build recreational dwellings outside the city walls. This amazingly accurate view reveals how densely populated this side of the Spaarne – the Zuider Buiten Spaarne – had become by the closing decade of the century. This lively riverscape may be identical with a ‘watergezicht’ by Van der Vinne, recorded as hanging in the ‘voorhuys’ in the inventory of the artist’s household drawn up on 3 August 1702. It is also possible that it was commissioned by the owner of the small country house visible at the extreme right of the scene, which is shown prominently and close by. This “buiten”, called Spaarnelust, was owned from 1690 onwards by the Mennonite merchant Mathijs van Sanen. A highly comparable painting from the same period depicting the estates Vlietzorg and Zorgvliet on the Spaarne (Amsterdam Museum) may also have been a commission by the contemporary owners of the respective properties, the Mennonite Haarlem families Kops and Van Casele. Van de Vinne comes from a family that produced four successive generations of artists. Laurens was a respected painter, etcher and draughtsman in Haarlem, who fulfilled leading positions within the town’s guild. Many etchings and drawings by Laurens van der Vinne are preserved in the print-room of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.