Art history at the Hotel Spaander, Volendam

The facade of the Art Hotel Spaander. Photo: Art Hotel Spaander

IT was only when I visited the washroom that the name of Art Hotel Spaander began to make sense. The walls, including those of the cubicles, are covered in murals and paintings depicting the scenes of old Holland: Fishermen in their black hats, jackets and baggy trousers; and women and girls in their long dresses with white aprons and pointed bonnets.

I am in Volendam, a fishing village 20km outside Amsterdam. In the 1870s, the French Impressionist painters like Monet, Renoir and Pissarro had popularised en plein air (outdoor) painting, and artists from America, Europe and England started travelling in search of beautiful landscapes and scenes of everyday life to capture on canvas.