Few artists conveyed the spirit of life in Amsterdam in the first half of the 20th century like Martin Monnickendam. He sketched and painted countless scenes in the city as well as portraying its citizens, his family and himself.
As a figurative artist in an age in which abstract art was the dominant trend, Monnickendam’s work lapsed into obscurity after his death. Thanks to the efforts of the Friends of the Painter Martin Monnickendam Foundation, this situation has at last been corrected.
Ten years ago, the Amsterdam Historical Museum received the large painting of The Reception of the Lord Mayor in the Royal Palace on Dam Square from the foundation. Three other paintings have now been added to the collection to mark the Monnickendam year in 2009.

Monnickendam attended a major musical performance, half hidden behind a pillar in the Grote Zaal of the Concertgebouw. Back at his studio he sketched this quick impression. Exactly which concert it was, was by then irrelevant.  The artist leads the eye via the brilliant neck and hair arrangements of the women in the audience to the stage. This is cordoned off, with red cord along a series of poles. On the right are a violinist and a pianist seated at a grand.  To the left is what appears to be a group of solo singers. The audience in the background is sitting on the stage, where the seats rise steeply like a stand. With small daubs of paint Monnickendam suggested the faces and white shirts of the formally dressed public packed into the stage seats.

Gift from the Vrienden van de Schilder Martin Monnickendam, 2009

Martin Monnickendam (1874–1943) Onlookers watch as two men converse across a billiard table in the billiard room at Krasnapolsky Hotel on Dam Square. What is happening is not exactly clear. This is not really an ‘Académie de Billard’, as the title suggests, since there are no cues or balls.

Using thick daubs of paint, Monnickendam set the brightly lit billiard table and the other light elements against the dark brown tints of the crowd. The artist’s characteristic use of deep red for the curtains and floor make the night-time smoke-filled atmosphere of the room almost tangible for the viewer.

Gift from the Vrienden van de Schilder Martin Monnickendam Foundation, 2009

One of Monnickendam's favourite subjects in his paintings was the audience that came to watch at the theatre. The three figures that caught his attention here in the theatre box seem to have been captured on canvas in an instant, as if the artist had made the painting there and then. Quick, dextrous brushstrokes suggest the form, light and shade. The three are completely absorbed in the play. Their mask-like faces reflect the light of the light cast on stage.
Gift from the Vrienden van de Schilder Martin Monnickendam Foundation, 2009