Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00009719About the Artwork
This painting is the first depiction of Amsterdam in which a canal is given prominence. Flanked by picturesque, tree-lined avenues and exquisite mansions, the Herengracht (Gentleman's Canal) was one of Amsterdam's most important waterways. The precision with which Jan Wijnants portrayed the topography of the city enables the viewer to witness the development of this location. To the left of the canal, Wijnants depicted a lumber yard, on which, in 1662, the architect Philip Vingoboons built four houses for the merchant Jacob Cromhout. Furthermore, soon after Wijanants completed this painting the canal was expanded.
Inscriptions
Signed lower left: "J. Wijnants [with remains of an inscription below]"
Provenance
1964-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, Ohio Probably 1964: (Frederick Mont, New York, NY, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art) 1963-1964?: (C. Duits, London)1 1963: (Sale, Sotheby’s, London, July 3, 1963, no. 17, sold to C. Duits)1 Until 1963: Violet Sassoon, Heathfield Park, Sussex, consigned to Sotheby’s 1938: (Sale, Galerie Charpentier, Paris, March 31, 1938, no. 45)1
Exhibition history
Year in Review (1964). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 8, 1964-January 31, 1965). Dutch Art and Life in the Seventeenth Century. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (July 10-September 2, 1973). Opkomst en bloei van het Noordnederlandse stadsgezicht in de 17de eeuw (The Dutch Cityscape in the Seventeenth Century and its Sources). Amsterdam Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands (organizer) (June 16-August 28, 1977); Art Gallery of Ontario, Ontario M5T 1G4, Canada (September 27-November 13, 1977). Visions of Landscape: East and West. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982). Pride of Place: Dutch Cityscapes of the Golden Age. Mauritshuis, Den Hague, Netherlands (October 11, 2008-January 11, 2009); National Gallery of Art, Landover, MD (February 8-May 3, 2009).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Jan Wijnants (Dutch, 1635–1684)
- Date
- c. 1661
- Medium
- oil on canvas
- Dimensions
- Framed: 87 x 101 x 9.2 cm (34 1/4 x 39 3/4 x 3 5/8 in.); Unframed: 67.2 x 81.6 cm (26 7/16 x 32 1/8 in.)
- Type
- Painting
- Classification
- Painting
- Department
- European Painting and Sculpture
- Credit line
- Gift of Harry D. Kendrick
- Accession no.
- 1964.419
More by Jan Wijnants in museum collections
Open-access museum record · AT-00009719
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