HOTEL DE VILLE - 1813

HÔTEL DE VILLE - 1813 This fourth of the “Histoire Naturelle” paintings for the Entrance hall of an 18th c. Directoire-style canalhouse, once the residence of Napoleons Gouverneur to the Netherlands, features Amsterdam's City Hall in a period that changed it into a seldom used Royal Palace. A period that changed France from Monarchy into a Republic while the Netherlands went the other way around. HISTOIRE NATURELLE Achter de monumentale Louis XVI gevel van Herengracht 40 in Amsterdam woonde begin 19e eeuw Napoleons Gouverneur in de Nederlanden en werd ons land feitelijk vanuit dit adres bestuurd. Later zou de Nederlandsche Handel Maatschappij hier decennia lang gevestigd zijn en bestuurde men vanuit hier dus goeddeels de koloniale exploitatie van Nederlands Indië. Op uitnodiging van de bewoners werd de entree van dit grachtenpaleis in de loop van de afgelopen drie jaar door Peter Korver veranderd in eengeschilderde galerij van volières. Tientallen vogels zitten er omringd door historische memorabilia. Kennelijk vrijwillig, want de tralies van hun kooi staan wijd open. Het is een encyclopedische verzameling geworden die niet alleen de pracht van de vogels en de geschiedenis van het huis in beeld brengt maar tevens een ambivalent beeld schetst van het begrip vrijheid. HISTOIRE NATURELLE Behind the impressive Louis XVI façade of Herengracht 40, Napoleons governor once resided, and so the Netherlands were then basically ruled from this adress. Later on 'De Netherlandse Handel Maatschappij' - todays ABN-AMRO Bank - would turn the house into its headoffice and manage the kolonial exploitation of today's Indonesia from here. Invited by it's present owners, Peter Korvers paintings have now changed the entrance of this 18 c urban palazzo into a gallery of aviaries. Birds hang around between Napoleonic and other historic memorabilia. Voluntarily as it seems, because the doors of their cages are wide open. What ensues is an encyclopedic collection that not only depicts the splendour of the birds and the history of this house, but at the same time draws an ambivilent image about the concept of freedom This fourth of the “Histoire Naturelle” paintings for the Entrance hall of an 18th c. Directoire-style canalhouse, once the residence of Napoleons Gouverneur to the Netherlands, features Amsterdam's City Hall in a period that changed it into a seldom used Royal Palace. A period that changed France from Monarchy into a Republic while the Netherlands went the other way around.