Artikelen

• Oppervlakkige sieraden. Enkele projecten ter verbetering en verfraaiing van de Amsterdamse stadsschouwburg aan de Keizersgracht, 1765-1772

  Between 1765 and 1772 refurbishment work was carried out to the building and auditorium of the Amsterdam municipal theatre. Several building engineers were involved, among whom the director general of the Amsterdam building department Cornelis Rauws (1736-1772) and the regular carpenter of the municipal theatre Jan Smit (1726-1807), who advised the town councillors and made the required designs and plans. It appears from the minutes of the ordinary treasurers, who supervised the refurbishments on behalf of the town council, that in 1770 the young carpenter/architect Abraham van der Hart also made designs for the auditorium on the instructions of the governors of the theatre. His involvement proves that, although he was still referred to as 'son of the carpenter Van der Hart', in 1770 Van der Hart's exceptional qualities as an architect had already been noticed in the circles of the town governors. However, Van der Hart's involvement in the project was short-lived. The town council refused to hire an external architect, because the services of director general Rauws could be made use of free of charge.

  In this article the refurbishment work to the theatre in the sixties and seventies of the eighteenth century is discussed, with special attention to the design of Van der Hart. His commissioners did not only have the ambition to embellish and modernize the auditorium, but also to express the hierarchy of the various seats better. Van der Hart proved to be capable of finding better solutions to this problem than his colleagues. For that reason his designs had an enduring effect on the further decision process. Eventually, hardly any of the ambitions mentioned were fulfilled. The decision process had a certain ad-hoc character: new requirements set to the building programme by the governors or problems detected in it, were each time responded to, instead of drawing up a coherent plan. In 1771 the changes that had been carried through were even partly reversed again, because they had deteriorated the practical suitability of the auditorium. Consequently. On 11 May 1772 the theatre building was lost in a fire.

  Between 1765 and 1772 refurbishment work was carried out to the building and auditorium of the Amsterdam municipal theatre. Several building engineers were involved, among whom the director general of the Amsterdam building department Cornelis Rauws (1736-1772) and the regular carpenter of the municipal theatre Jan Smit (1726-1807), who advised the town councillors and made the required designs and plans. It appears from the minutes of the ordinary treasurers, who supervised the refurbishments on behalf of the town council, that in 1770 the young carpenter/architect Abraham van der Hart also made designs for the auditorium on the instructions of the governors of the theatre. His involvement proves that, although he was still referred to as 'son of the carpenter Van der Hart', in 1770 Van der Hart's exceptional qualities as an architect had already been noticed in the circles of the town governors. However, Van der Hart's involvement in the project was short-lived....

  Between 1765 and 1772 refurbishment work was carried out to the building and auditorium of the Amsterdam municipal theatre. Several building engineers were involved, among whom the director general of the Amsterdam building department Cornelis Rauws (1736-1772) and the regular...

  Geert Medema

  174-185

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• Abraham van der Hart en de bouw van het stadhuis in Weesp

  In 1769 the parents of Abraham van der Hart (1747-1820) divorced. His father found new employment as master carpenter in Nijmegen in the east of the Netherlands. Abraham, twenty-two years old, stayed in Amsterdam, probably with his mother and in the next years took over the businesses of his father, among which his building firm. In 1771 the young Van der Hart was one of the advisors of the vroedschap (town council) of Weesp for the building of a new town hall. As a carpenter he made a plan for rebuilding the existing town hall, whereas Libero Druck made a design for a completely new building.

  Eventually at the end of the year Jacob Otten Husly received the assignment for the whole project. Both Libero Druck and Jacob Otten Husly were acquainted with the latest developments of French architecture and provided severe classical designs. For Van der Hart this was perhaps his first acquaintance with this new Louis XVI style. Of the three designs which can be attributed to him two of them were rather traditional, but one of them already had a more classical aspect.

  In 1769 the parents of Abraham van der Hart (1747-1820) divorced. His father found new employment as master carpenter in Nijmegen in the east of the Netherlands. Abraham, twenty-two years old, stayed in Amsterdam, probably with his mother and in the next years took over the businesses of his father, among which his building firm. In 1771 the young Van der Hart was one of the advisors of the vroedschap (town council) of Weesp for the building of a new town hall. As a carpenter he made a plan for rebuilding the existing town hall, whereas Libero Druck made a design for a completely new building.

  Eventually at the end of the year Jacob Otten Husly received the assignment for the whole project. Both Libero Druck and Jacob Otten Husly were acquainted with the latest developments of French architecture and provided severe classical designs. For Van der Hart this was perhaps his first acquaintance with this new Louis XVI style. Of the three designs which can be attributed to him...

  In 1769 the parents of Abraham van der Hart (1747-1820) divorced. His father found new employment as master carpenter in Nijmegen in the east of the Netherlands. Abraham, twenty-two years old, stayed in Amsterdam, probably with his mother and in the next years took over the businesses of his...

  Maarten Gaillard, Gerrit Vermeer

  186-194

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• Meer dan Welgelegen: Abraham van der Hart en de familie Hope

  Pavilion Welgelegen in Haarlem was built in 1785-1792 as the country house of the fabulously rich Amsterdam citizen Henry Hope (1735-1811), partner of the internationally renowned commercial bank Hope & Co. Since 1930 the Pavilion has been the seat of the provincial authorities of North Holland. So far, it was assumed that the consul of the Kingdom of Sardinia in the Dutch Republic, Michel (de) Triquetti (1748-1821), had designed Welgelegen, whose plans were said to have been executed by Jean-Baptiste Dubois (1762-1851), an architect from Dendermonde.

  However, it has now been ascertained that the designer was Abraham van der Hart (1747-1820), town architect of Amsterdam at that time. This is the result of new research in the records, confirmed by the conclusions of a study of Henry Hope's network of relations in connection with known buildings of Van der Hart. Research of Pavilion Welgelegen itself showed that the L-shaped building originally consisted of two rather autonomous parts: a residential wing on the Dreef and a picture gallery on Haarlemmerhout. It also appeared that the residential wing is in fact the refurbished country house that Hope had bought in 1769. This functional distinction was also evident from the very expensive interior, for instance, the soft furnishings: chintz for the residential wing and silk for the gallery. The soft furnishings were the work of the French decorator Louis le Houx, who had probably settled in Haarlem especially for this assignment.

  Because of the imperfect connection between the wings it may be assumed that initially the design of the picture gallery on Haarlemmerhout was not intended for Welgelegen, but for the country estate Groenendaal in Heemstede, the property of John Hope, Henry's cousin. Just as Henry, John was a partner of Hope & Co, but he was a collector in the first place; around 1780 his collection of paintings was the most important of Amsterdam. Everything indicates that John had plans for the building of a picture gallery in his country estate, when he suddenly died in 1784.

  Henry Hope took over a large part of his paintings and commissioned Abraham van der Hart to make the design of this picture gallery suitable for Welgelegen. It is likely that this design had also been made by him, because there are indications that Van der Hart had already known the Hope family before. For instance, in 1784 the Hopes were the major investors in the building of the French Theatre in Amsterdam, of which Van der Hart was the architect; Pietro Antonio Bolangaro Crevenna (1736-1792), for whom Van der Hart had probably designed Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 212 in 1782, also belonged to the circle of founders of this theatre and consequently to the circle of the Hopes. It is even possible that in 1777 Van der Hart was appointed town architect of Amsterdam through the mediation of John Hope, who had a seat in the town council, after all.

  His involvement in Pavilion Welgelegen resulted in a lot of commissions for Van der Hart as a private architect. He was asked for the construction/refurbishment of the country estate Wildhoef near Bloemendaal (around 1788), Herengracht 544 in Amsterdam (from 1789), the town house Huis Kops in Haarlem (Nieuwe Gracht 74, from 1790), Herengracht 509-511 in Amsterdam (around 1791), the town house Huis Hodshon in Haarlem (Spaarne 17, 1793-1796), the country estate Huis Doorn (around 1791-1795), the country estate Elsenburg near Maarssen (around 1795), the dome of country estate Bellevue in Haarlem (Kleine Houtweg 119, around 1801), and the town house Huis Barnaart in Haarlem (Nieuwe Gracht 7, 1803-1807). In the interiors of these buildings the influence of the work of Robert Adam is clearly to be recognized from 1789 onwards, which Van der Hart had become acquainted with during the construction of Welgelegen, probably through Henry Hope himself.

  Consequently, the Hope family meant a great deal for Abraham van der Hart, directly by its commissions, its patronage and its network of relations, as well as indirectly by the great interest Welgelegen attracted.

  Pavilion Welgelegen in Haarlem was built in 1785-1792 as the country house of the fabulously rich Amsterdam citizen Henry Hope (1735-1811), partner of the internationally renowned commercial bank Hope & Co. Since 1930 the Pavilion has been the seat of the provincial authorities of North Holland. So far, it was assumed that the consul of the Kingdom of Sardinia in the Dutch Republic, Michel (de) Triquetti (1748-1821), had designed Welgelegen, whose plans were said to have been executed by Jean-Baptiste Dubois (1762-1851), an architect from Dendermonde.

  However, it has now been ascertained that the designer was Abraham van der Hart (1747-1820), town architect of Amsterdam at that time. This is the result of new research in the records, confirmed by the conclusions of a study of Henry Hope's network of relations in connection with known buildings of Van der Hart. Research of Pavilion Welgelegen itself showed that the L-shaped building...

  Pavilion Welgelegen in Haarlem was built in 1785-1792 as the country house of the fabulously rich Amsterdam citizen Henry Hope (1735-1811), partner of the internationally renowned commercial bank Hope & Co. Since 1930 the Pavilion has been the seat of the provincial...

  Jacqueline Heijenbrok, Guido Steenmeijer

  194-211

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• Kapconstructies uit de 18de eeuw: stilstand of vernieuwing?

  In relation to the architecture of façades, in the 18th century the roof got a less striking, even secondary position in comparison with the high ornamental roof still in vogue in the 17th century. This was expressed in a reduction in height by dividing the span into two or more roof points. In order to give a terraced house more prestige an extra floor was added at the front side of the house with a shallow transverse roof, also called 'liar'. The asymmetrical section of the design of J. Giudici for the town hall in Groningen (1775) may be called a variation on this approach.

  The need to roof over a large span of a limited height led to the king post roof truss used in the Netherlands in the second half of the 17th century. The principle of a central motice and tenon joint, as used between king post and tie-beam, with wrought iron connections was already known in the late Middle Ages. In those days, however, it still concerned tall, high-pitched roofs which went out of fashion in the 18th century, just as the stacked trestles called ‘broken trusses' in the 18th century. To what extent did architectonic fashion, commissioner or architect determine the external appearance and thus frequently the internal layout of the roof?

  This change, or, if you like, various executions in the four stages of one single project assignment, can be strikingly illustrated in the early 18th century on the basis of the design drawings for Le chateau de Lunéville. The French court architect Germain Boffrand (1667-1754) initially made a design with high-pitched roofs, 'projet 1 à hautes toitures' in which simple rafters with top bracing are to be seen. Within a relatively short period (1708-09) this changed into the seemingly roofless variation ‘projet 3 avec les longes ailes'. Under the low, sometimes flat roofs only king post roof trusses were then to be seen.

  In greater detail, the 18th century roofs in the Netherlands are characterized by the use of pinewood purlin rafters of which the principal rafters continue from wall plate to ridge. Unlike in the 17th century, (cut) assembly marks were usually omitted. In simple form these roofs may have been constructed with ashlar posts, sometimes unbroken tie-beams, top bracing and spur-ties in which iron connections were increasingly used.

  In relation to the architecture of façades, in the 18th century the roof got a less striking, even secondary position in comparison with the high ornamental roof still in vogue in the 17th century. This was expressed in a reduction in height by dividing the span into two or more roof points. In order to give a terraced house more prestige an extra floor was added at the front side of the house with a shallow transverse roof, also called 'liar'. The asymmetrical section of the design of J. Giudici for the town hall in Groningen (1775) may be called a variation on this approach.

  The need to roof over a large span of a limited height led to the king post roof truss used in the Netherlands in the second half of the 17th century. The principle of a central motice and tenon joint, as used between king post and tie-beam, with wrought iron connections was already known in the late Middle Ages. In those days, however, it still concerned tall, high-pitched roofs which went out of...

  In relation to the architecture of façades, in the 18th century the roof got a less striking, even secondary position in comparison with the high ornamental roof still in vogue in the 17th century. This was expressed in a reduction in height by dividing the span into two or more roof points....

  Dirk Jan de Vries

  224-232

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• Van Amsterdam naar Berbice; Koloniale bestuursgebouwen als nieuwe ontwerpopdracht voor Abraham van der Hart

  During the years when Abraham van der Hart, as town architect of Amsterdam, worked among other things on the design and construction of the workhouse Nieuwe Werkhuis, he was also involved in various other large projects. In Amsterdam he designed the Roman-Catholic girls' orphanage on Spui, the Maagdenhuis. In the same period he was asked to give advice on a design for a new government building in Berbice, a Dutch colony in South America, governed by the Society of Berbice.

  Van der Hart did not only give advice on this design for a complex of buildings with four wings around an open inner courtyard, but he also drew a new design himself. Starting from the various functions (government, residence for the governor, barracks, hospital) he designed an ambitious project that was to consist of six separate buildings. The board of directors of the Society of Berbice was immediately impressed by it, and Van der Hart was asked to make two sets of drawings, so that one set could also be forwarded to the colony. Later, indecisiveness and fear to invest in the colony caused a delay, and when British troops captured the colony in 1781, the construction of the new government buildings was put off.

  Eventually, the design was never realized. It is a fascinating project in the oeuvre of Van der Hart. In architectonic design the complex of buildings for the government of Berbice is to be compared to the Nieuwe Werkhuis and the Maagdenhuis in Amsterdam, but the functions and location in a West Indian colony make the design a striking exception in the long career of Van der Han. It is evident from the quick and well-considered way in which Van der Hart was able to design three large projects in the same period - two of which were actually realized - that even before his appointment as town architect of Amsterdam in 1777 he must have had a distinct reputation, based on thorough architectonic knowledge and experience in the building practice.

  During the years when Abraham van der Hart, as town architect of Amsterdam, worked among other things on the design and construction of the workhouse Nieuwe Werkhuis, he was also involved in various other large projects. In Amsterdam he designed the Roman-Catholic girls' orphanage on Spui, the Maagdenhuis. In the same period he was asked to give advice on a design for a new government building in Berbice, a Dutch colony in South America, governed by the Society of Berbice.

  Van der Hart did not only give advice on this design for a complex of buildings with four wings around an open inner courtyard, but he also drew a new design himself. Starting from the various functions (government, residence for the governor, barracks, hospital) he designed an ambitious project that was to consist of six separate buildings. The board of directors of the Society of Berbice was immediately impressed by it, and Van der Hart was asked to make two sets of...

  During the years when Abraham van der Hart, as town architect of Amsterdam, worked among other things on the design and construction of the workhouse Nieuwe Werkhuis, he was also involved in various other large projects. In Amsterdam he designed the Roman-Catholic girls'...

  Lex Bosman

  212-223

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