Village "Duivendrecht"
All Van Ommeren's ship names ended on "drecht" for instance Sliedrecht, Mijdrecht, Holendrecht and more. All are existing Dutch cities or villages. Drecht in Dutch means a crossing in mostly a small peat river and a second meaning is a channel or a creek. The ms Duivendrecht was named after a small village south of Amsterdam. The translation of "Duivendrecht" is something like "Pigeons Crossing".
In the Roman days the place was called Due Venae Trajectum which later became Duivendrecht. It is first mentioned in the county's books in the period 1307 - 1342. Duivendrecht made a payment in 1342 to the Count's Court of 10% value of the crops and 8 geese. In 1350 a Chapel was built. In 1720 there were 230, in 1758 283 and in 1840 a total 431 inhabitants.
This is a part of a map from 1896 showing Duivendrecht. It consisted then of Duivendrecht, Kln. (Klein) or Small Duivendrecht and two polders. The names of the farms stretched along the river Amstel - after which Amsterdam is named - are clearly readable. For instance the farm with the name "Mijn Genoegen" means "My Pleasure".
This is a picture of the farm "Mijn Genoegen" which was taken in 1966. The address is Rijksstraatweg 186 Duivendrecht and it is still used as a farm.
An oil painting "Dutch Landscape with Windmill in Duivendrecht" bij Hermanus Koekoek jr. (1836 - 1909) signed with his pseudonym J. van Couver at the bottom left. The painting's size is 57 x 71 cm.
This is a painting made in 1905-1906 of the farm Weltevrede - translated: Well Satisfied/Pleased - also shown on the above map. The same farm was put on canvas or just on paper a number of times by the famous Dutch painter Piet Mondriaan who later turned into a even more famous cubistic painter. The technique used here is chalk, watercolour and gouache on tinted paper. The size is 50 x 65,5 cm. Piet Mondriaan lived from 1872 - 1944. Using the painting as a button will transfer you to the site with all the Weltevrede's painting etc. are shown. Worth a visit!
An aquarelle of the same farm painted in 1906, which is at the moment in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Since 1908 Piet Mondriaan made several visits to the city of Domburg in the Province of Zeeland in the south-western part of Holland. He concentrated on four things: the Church, the Lighthouse of West Kapelle, the Dunes and the Sea. During his stays in Domburg he lived on the address Zuidstraat 10. Use the above drawing of the Church of Domburg as a button to see more pictures.
At the end of 1910 Mondriaan became a member of the board of the 'Modern Art Cirkle' in Amsterdam. In 1911 the 'Modern Art Cirkle' organized an exhibition of France cubist art in Amsterdam. Mondriaan was very impressed by the cubist art. Soon after the exhibition he moved to Paris and started to make cubist paintings and his real fame stems from this style of painting.
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