Ice skating competition for women 21 Januari 1809 by Nicolaas Baur

Nicolaas BAUR (1767-1820): Ice skating competition for women on the Stadsgracht in Leeuwarden, 21 January 1809

oil on canvas, 60 x 75 cm

Rijksmuseum, gift from Willem Jan Hacquebord and Houkje Anna Brandsma

Nicolaas Baur is one of the most famous painters that Harlingen has ever produced. He was born there in 1767 and died there in 1820. The Rijksmuseum owns eight paintings by Nicolaas Baur, Gemeentemuseum Het Hannemahuis has twenty-three paintings by him in its collection: including Ships in stormy weather, the Buitenhaven of Harlingen (1810-1820) and the Franeker Gate in Harlingen (1813).

Initially Baur was a wallpaper painter. Four wallpapers from a house in Harlingen hang in the Town Hall. The wallpaper painter Baur developed into a creditable marine painter. One of his most famous works is Ice Skating Competition for Women on the Stadsgracht in Leeuwarden (1809), of which there are two versions. The first version (with the Dutch flag) hangs in the Fries Museum in Leeuwarden, the second version (without the Dutch flag) has been part of the Rijksmuseum's permanent collection for some years now. Both paintings show the finish of a skating competition in 1809 between 64 unmarried women on Frisian doorwalkers. The main prize of the competition consisted of a gold ear iron. The match was a hype at the time. In 1805 the first competition between women on skates took place, won by Trijntje Pieters from Poppingawier. A letter-writer was terribly excited about it: "What a carelessness, devoid of all feeling, is it not to excite the weaker Kunne into such a murderous game, by enticing shining gold and jewels?"

The moralist then writes that the famkes did not even hesitate to "lay out all the outer garments, with all the grace of her body showing itself quite unfavorably". The author appeals to the French King Louis Napoleon "to stop this cruel game". Lodewijk Napoleon ("I am your rabbit") does not care. Four years later, the women were allowed to repeat. With all the fuss, the match had taken on mythical proportions. It was considered indecent for the women to take off their jackets to skate more freely. Their bare arms were just plain to see. Spectators flocked to Leeuwarden from all over Friesland. Houkje Gerrits van Veenwouden, her coat is on the ice, wins the match with a nose length lead. There was so much interest in this event among the Frisian elite that Baur painted and sold the finish of the speed skating race twice. Nearly identical versions except for the flag. It is interesting that one of the paintings was purchased in 1942 on behalf of Adolf Hitler for the Reich Chancellery in annexed Poland. The painting hung there until Poland was liberated by the Russians in 1945. Via a long detour, the painting eventually ended up in Friesland again and was donated to the Rijksmuseum in 2013 by a Frisian couple. And now the painting adorns the poster for the exhibition High Skies. The typical cold winter air with trees covered in hoarfrost form the backdrop for the skating competition. On the right is the powder tower and in the background the Onze Lieve Vrouwenpoort and the Oldenhove are depicted.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolaas_Baur

Taken on: September 1, 2021

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Leeuwarden

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