Cornelis Vreedenburgh - Moored flat-bottomed boat on Dutch canal

This painting comes from an inheritance. Purchased and valued in 2010 (6500 euros). Both the proof of purchase and the appraisal report are part of the asking price.
Cornelis Vreedenburgh was largely self-taught. Initially he worked as a house and decorative painter and drew and painted in his spare time, until he was able to devote himself entirely to painting in 1904 thanks to a Royal subsidy for promising young artists. Valuable to him were the advice of the impressionist WB Tholen, who often took him on his boat on the Kaag and the Loosdrechtse plassen. The meadow and water scenes that Vreedenburgh painted were immediately popular because of their strong colors and the striking way in which he depicted the light and atmosphere of the landscape. In 1917 the painter settled in Laren, at that time a lively artists' village. From that time on, many Amsterdam cityscapes were also created.
Vreedenburgh, born and raised in Woerden, came from a family of house and art painters. Drawing and painting was also in his blood – he drew and painted every spare moment, even at mealtime – and he received his first lessons from his father. In addition to his father, Vreedenburgh, who never attended the academy, also received lessons from Gerard Roermeester (1902), who taught him the artistic views of the Hague School painters. During that time, Vreedenburgh also met Albert Roelofs, son of Willem Roelofs. Vreedenburgh learned a lot from Albert Roelofs, who gave painting lessons to the young Princess Wilhelmina for some time. This is how Vreedenburgh's 'Landscape with Cows' came to the attention of Queen Mother Emma, who purchased it in 1907 for the sum of 250 guilders.
In his spare time, Vreedenburgh set out around 1900 together with his peer and fellow local Leo Gestel to paint the landscapes around Woerden, Gestel from his vision as a modernist, Vreedenburgh as an impressionist in the making. Also valuable to him were the advice of the impressionist WB Tholen, whose influence is clearly noticeable in Vreedenburgh's work. Shortly after the turn of the century. In 1905, around that time we see his color palette change to a use of brown tones, his first submission to the Amsterdam artists' association Arti et Amicitiae was awarded the Willink van Collen Prize. Vreedenburgh also became a member of the Hague artists' association Pulchri Studio.
After his marriage in 1912 to the artist Marie Schotel, daughter of the famous sea painter JC Schotel, the couple first moved to Nunspeet, where they lived in a small farm and Vreedenburgh painted the rural life of the Veluwe. In August 1912, Vreedenburgh wrote to Albert Plasschaert: 'We live here wonderfully alone, I don't understand the country yet.' In 1913 the couple moved towards the water, to Hattem. There Vreedenburgh gets to know Jan Voerman Sr and Jr, who captured the watery IJssel landscape in their own way. At this time it is the green tones of the IJssel landscape that predominate. Later the colors of Amsterdam and Leiden impressionism were added.
Vreedenburgh's colorful, impressionistic cityscapes and atmospheric water landscapes in watercolor and oil quickly became popular. They sold well and the family could make a living from them. From a description of his meadow landscapes by the critic H. van Calker one can see why: 'The meadow landscape in the glow of the radiant sun, when the blue sky is clearly and deeply reflected in the water, the colorful cows form strong color contrasts against the light and the fences stand out clearly against the wealth of greenery'. The canals and water of Amsterdam in particular were an inexhaustible source of inspiration for the painter. Van Calker says about the mood in one of these cityscapes: 'when the autumn mist veils the tall houses along the water with a gray shroud and a single yellow leaf floats on the water, while the barges are quietly moored on the side'.
But above all, the water moved into the area around the Gooi Vreedenburgh. This is where the lake views were created, offering a view of open water with boats. He often sailed with his family on the Loosdrecht lakes, always accompanied by his sketchbook. Vreedenburgh also regularly traveled abroad, usually to France and Italy. Later in life he made a tour in the Middle East, during which his report with drawings and watercolors appeared in the Panorama Christmas Book of 1936. In 1937 Vreedenburgh was honored with a major solo exhibition in Kunstzaal Hamdorff in Laren, where all his paintings were sold, including also two works on Queen Wilhelmina.
Vreedenburgh was a gifted impressionist and a hardworking artist, who left behind an extensive and engaging oeuvre with which he occupies his own place in art history.