Isaak Ouwater Amsterdam 1750 - 1793

Anonymous sale, London, Sotheby's, 24 June 1964, lot 119, for £6,100 to Hallsbourough;
With Hallsborough Gallery, London, 1965;
Francis Dashwood, Esq.;
Anonymous sale ("The Property of a Gentleman"), London, Sotheby's, 14 November 1973, lots 258 and 259;
Anonymous sale ("The Property of a Private Collector"), London, Sotheby's, 3 July 1997, lot 52. 

Advertisement in Apollo, May 1965, and in The Connoisseur, December 1965;
H.C. de Bruijn, "Enige stadspoorten op schilderijen uit het tijdvak 1750-1830", in Antiek, vol. 15, 1981, pp. 518-9,  reproduced p. 519, fig. 10 (Catharijnepoort) and p. 520, fig. 11 (Wittevrouwenpoort); 
J. de Meyere, Utrecht op schilderijen. Zes eeuwen topografische voorstellingen van de stad Utrecht, 1988, pp. 68 and 84, reproduced p. 65, fig. 8 (Catharijnepoort) and p. 82, fig. 23 (Wittevrouwenpoort);   
C. Dumas, Haagse Stadgezichten 1550-1800. topografische schilderijen van Haags Historisch Museum, The Hague 1991, p. 567, under footnote 11.  

The city of Utrecht had four gates, two of which Ouwater has depicted here.  Most of them originate from the 12th century but were substantially rebuilt in later times.  The Catharijnepoort was designed by the Utrecht painter and architect Paulus Moreelse and finished in 1626.  This gate contained a storage room for gunpowder, the city archives and a small prison (see De Meyere under Literature).  Visible to the right of the gate is a city mill, named De Fortuin.

The Wittevrouwenpoort is seen here after its rebuilding in 1649-53 by Hendrick Aertsz. Struys and Pieter Post.  The latter architect, who also designed the royal residence Huis ten Bosch in The Hague, was responsible for the upper part of the gate.  Like the gate, the Wittevrouwenpoort was also named after the "white nuns" of a nearby convent.  Dating from 1382, the Domtoren, visible to the right of the gate, remains the highest cathedral tower in The Netherlands.  Both gates were demolished in 1858.

In painting views of towns Ouwater was known to be topographically accurate.  As well as Amsterdam and Utrecht, he also painted views of the towns of Leiden, Edam and The Hague.  His town views clearly show the influence of Jan van der Heyden (1637-1712), being sharply drawn, painted with fresh colours, and set in bright daylight.  Dated works from his hand are known from the period 1776-1789.