The Discovery of Holland
On a little-known artist’s colony frequented by world-famous painters
Each year thousands of tourists flock to the Dutch town of Volendam for its traditional fishing past. Few people know that around the turn of the twentieth century, when only accessible by boat, it was a bustling artist’s colony which inspired the likes of Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Ivar Kamke, Elizabeth Nourse, Georg Hering, Marianne Stokes, and even Japan’s Crown Prince Hirohito and the writer Marcel Proust.
When Jan Brokken was brought to Hotel Spaander by a poet friend in 1981, he knew he’d stumbled on a literary gold mine. Its walls were crammed with artworks from the thousands of artists who had passed through its doors, drawn by the unique light, voluminous Dutch skies and village scenes, but perhaps most of all, the welcoming atmosphere encouraged by its worldly, entrepreneurial owners Leendert and Alida Spaander. Unlike artist cafés in Paris at the time, the hotel was open to women and would see many visit from as far away as the United States.
Hotel Spaander’s heyday was brief and would last from 1881 until 1920, when the owners retired. Nevertheless, it continued to draw painters throughout the following decade. In 1932 the construction of the Afsluitdijk, a causeway dam which blocked off access to the North Sea, effectively ended much of Volendam’s seafaring life. During the corona pandemic the hotel finally went out of business. With the gifted eye for detail and atmosphere of a novelist, Brokken gathers twenty-four stories of visiting artists and their art, with colour reproductions of many of the works mentioned. Through their lives, he reconstructs the hotel’s story around the turn of the twentieth century and brings a bygone world, in all its joy, pain, camaraderie and violence, lovingly to life.
Immersive narrative non-fiction that combines a moving literary style with art history made personal
Hotel Spaander has remained largely unknown as an artist’s colony until only recently
In 2023 Jan Brokken was awarded the Gouden Ganzenveer (the Golden Quill) for his ‘astounding, broad oeuvre’
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Shared Stories
Hayo Deinum
hayo@sharedstories.nl
“Jan Brokken has written a wonderful book about the Volendammers and the eccentric characters they hosted. […] A beautifully illustrated and delightfully readable book.”
“Jan Brokken’s pen enchants the reader: especially with his captivating outpourings and memories. […] Magnificent intimate portrait.”
“Writing is Brokken’s calling: he is a story seeker, a treasure hunter.”
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