A few houses surrounded by water, some trees and, over there on the right, perhaps a dwelling mound? This village view was painted by Gerrit Benner.
Benner and his wife ran a shop in handbags and jewellery for a living. Initially, Benner’s painting was only a leisure activity. His business regularly took him to Amsterdam, on which occasions he usually managed to visit a few art galleries. Eventually he settled there and began painting in the former studio of his friend Karel Appel. Soon after that, his career as a painter took off, with exhibitions in São Paolo and Venice as highlights.
However, the Frisian landscape with its characteristic cloudy skies always remained Benner’s favourite theme.