INFO
The Heineken Brewery on Stadhouderskade, Amsterdam
Jacobus van der Zwaal (1908-2010)
c. 1993
oil on canvas
h 74.7 x w 49.6 cm
Mystery solved!
All the objects in the Heineken Collection’s Stars series are filled with stories, often so many that only a fraction of them fits on the website. However, not all Stars readily disclose their secrets. An example is this painting: a sober winter portrayal of the brewery on Amsterdam's Stadhouderskade.
The atmosphere is reminiscent of the illustrations in old Verkade albums (collectible albums issued by the Verkade biscuit and chocolate company), with muted tones. It's an intriguing composition of almost abstract forms and colour patches. The crow in the foreground lends depth to the scene. Along the leaning tree, your eye travels from Weteringplantsoen quay over Singelgracht, past a boat full of yellow Heineken crates, to the chimneys on the brewery grounds behind the malt silo building.
Who, what, where, when?
Beautiful, you might think, and who created it and when? The latter is quickly deduced. The painter portrayed the situation before 1992, the year when the chimneys were dismantled, and the brewery site was cleared. A square with shops and houses replaced it. The vista was filled by a modern rectangular office building.
Multitasker
And the creator? He signed the picture at the lower right, 'J van der Zwaal.' That signature rang a bell among the researchers of the Heineken Collection. In the distant past, someone by that name had worked at Heineken Amsterdam’s Province Sales department. A creative multitasker, it turns out: J. van der Zwaal was not only a soccer captain and the driving force behind Sportclub H.B.M., but also an editor, writer, and illustrator for the H.B.M. Clubnieuws, the underground ‘Dwaallicht’ and later at Vers van ’t vat. In 1966, he appeared once more in the staff magazine due to his transfer from the sales department to marketing. His trail grew cold after that. No personal details were found anywhere; even his first name remained a mystery. This makes it challenging to answer a crucial question: was this painting made by the same Van der Zwaal?
Investigation
Fortunately, there's another clue. The collection includes four professional portrait photos from 1993 in one of which the artist poses with this painting—undoubtedly on the occasion of its donation to Heineken, once more begging the question: is this the same person as the former Heineken employee? Extensive research finally unearthed the answer via the editorial address of H.B.M. Clubnieuws (5 Zocherstraat), two family cards in the Amsterdam population register, an old staff photo, and a Vers van ’t Vat magazine column wherein Van der Zwaal reveals his Rotterdam origin.
Life story
Now we know that Jacobus van der Zwaal (1908-2010) moved from Rotterdam to the capital in 1932 and was registered as a 'representative of Heineken Brewery.' He married Maria Metzer in 1933 and they lived at 5/3 Zocherstraat near Vondelpark, where they had a daughter the following year. The family, expanded with a son, moved to Rheden, near Velp (Gelderland), in 1952. Sjaak Ramakers captured his photo reportage in 1993 in the retired Van der Zwaal's studio, where he dedicated himself to drawing and painting—his favourite pursuits alongside Heineken.
Jacobus van der Zwaal ultimately lived to be 101, looking back contentedly on a long and varied life. He left us this painting as a nostalgic witness to a bygone era.
