Almshouses at Het Hofje van Nieuwkoop

Johannes Bosboom 1817 - 1891

Summary

This almshouse, Hofje van Nieuwkoop, is one of the largest and most beautiful in The Hague. It was founded with money from the estate of Johan de Bruijn van Buijtewech, Heer van Nieuwkoop en Achttienhoven, to provide housing for needy people of good character, who were able to pay a nominal rent and had some connection with the church. Designed by Pieter Post in 1665, it faces the Prinsengracht, although the entrance is on Warmoezierstraat. The cultivated courtyard is enclosed by box hedges and the almshouse is brought to life by its inhabitants, who are seen going about their daily business. Bosboom first joined the studio of Bartholomeus J. van Hove, a cityscape painter, who lived next door to his family in The Hague. He established a reputation as a painter of church interiors, which he embellished with characters, furniture and ornaments in 17th century style. During the last ten years of his life he worked almost entirely in watercolour; on the strength of these and his fondness for scenes of Scheveningen, he is considered an important influence on the younger members of the Hague School. He exhibited widely and received numerous honours in his lifetime. A French Gallery catalogue from 1911 refers to the high regard in which he was held: 'His was the hand which was chosen to unveil the "Night Watch", the chief picture of his great master [Rembrandt], when it was set up at the end of the nave in the Rijks Museum in Amsterdam, in 1885.'