Lot 235: Geert Grauss 1882-1929 , Café Mille Colonnes, Amsterdam oil on canvas

signed and dated 1911 l.l.; titled and dated Mille Colonnes Amsterdam 1911 on the reverse oil on canvas

75 by 100 cm.

Collection Van Ommen van Guijlik, Amsterdam

The present lot depicts the lively interior of the famous Grand Hotel and Café Restaurant Mille Colonnes in Amsterdam. Around the turn of the century, this café on the Rembrandtplein was frequented by many artists, especially the group of writers and painters associated with the so-called Eighties-movement. In his poem 'Mast' (1949) the Dutch writer Arthur van Schendel memorises the stimulating atmosphere in Mille Colonnes. Hein Boeken, one of the core members of the Eighties group, described it as his favourite gathering place where 'de oneindig vergezichten weerkaatsende spiegelwanden, de zilvergrijs hangende sigaren-rook, het zoo gedempt, uit de witte ballonnen dalende electrische licht de jonge kunstenaars hielp om uit de enge grenzen van hun beperkt alledaags-leven in gedachte naar de ruimere, ja onbegrensde rijken van herinnering en verbeelding uit te vliegen' (quoted from 'In memoriam G.W. Dijsselhof', De Nieuwe Gids, 1924, pp. 94-95).