Exhibition: The world of Christiaan Andriessen

None of his paintings survive, but his drawings and sketches give a unique insight in early 19th century street life in Amsterdam.

Christiaan Andriessen (1775-1846) was a painter, but is now remembered only for his drawings, sketches and illustrations, and especially for his illustrated diary (1805-1808). This diary contained probably over 700 illustrations (many are now lost), and 80 of these illustrations are now on display on a special exhibition in Amsterdam: De wereld van Christiaan Andriessen. Amsterdamse dagboektekeningen 1805-1808. (The world of Christiaan Andriessen: Diary illustrations from Amsterdam 1805-1808.)

The exhibition is open from today, 17 October 2008, until 11 January 2009.

For those of you not planning a trip to Amsterdam this autumn, many of these diary illustrations are also available in the Beeldbank Amsterdam (image bank Amsterdam).

UPDATE: Only hours after I posted the above message, I received an announcement from the Amsterdam City Archive that many diary illustrations are now online and in chronological order on the Christiaan Andriessen: Amsterdamse dagboektekeningen 1805-1808 website.