bert feringa                                         painter

The rural area where I live is called the "Achterhoek" . It is the most Eastern part of Holland, separated from the central part of Holland by the river Ijssel. You could say it is the backyard of Holland. The numerous brooks and small rivers  in the area are all streaming  from the East to the West. From the (german) highlands to the lowlands of the river IJssel. The  river IJssel is a branch of the Rhine and meanders from the South to the North into the IJsselmeer. It is a beautiful river  and you have to cross her to enter the heart of Holland. It used to be a major defense line to protect Holland  from enemies from the East. Today I rather think it is a defense line against  noisy, hasty and busy citylife from the West. One of the gateways to central Holland is the town of Zutphen.  Situated along the river,  Zutphen was in the early middle ages a prosperous merchant city. In the 16th century it became a strongly fortified town and was the victim of fierce battles.  But today it is  a quiet town with a well preserved historical inner city. The skyline of Zutphen, dominated by towers and  the river IJssel, was painted by various artists. In 1665 B. Averkamp  (a brother of the famous W. Avercamp)  painted a winter view on the town of Zuphen. In 1850 W. Verschuur painted a nice view on Zutphen with a typically Dutch sky. But  the master of the river IJssel is the painter Jan Voerman who was born near the IJssel.  In the latter half of his career Voerman painted many beautiful  riversights of the IJssel. (see left) I think it is time for me to paint a present day "sight on Zutphen" with the river IJssel and a  Dutch sky.