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Horse Inspection on the Grote Markt

Otto Eerelman

About this artwork.

In the entrance of the City Hall there are two paintings that refer to the history of the city. On one side of the hall is the Siege of Groningen 1672 painted in 1672 by Folkert Bock (1632 - 1696), on the other side the Horse Inspection on the Grote Markt painted by Otto Eerelman (1839 - 1926).

In 1919, on the occasion of his 80th birthday, Eerelman was requested by the city council to make a large painting in honor of the Relief of Groningen on August 28, 1672, for an amount of 5,000 guilders. He is free to choose the subject, but a Groningen scene was of course preferred. Eerelman opts for one of the traditional annual festivities of the Relief of Groningen. Since 1857, a peerdespul' has been taking place in Groningen: harness racing and horse inspections. Eerelman depicts the horse inspection during the annual celebration of the Relief of Groningen and shows how Groningen then celebrated the commemoration with festivities and a horse market. Many prominent figures from the circles of the Groningen equestrian sport and breeding at the beginning of the twentieth century are depicted, but these well-known Groningers were not all alive around 1920.

When the painting was finished, it was exhibited for two days in front of the window of a café on the Grote Markt before it was moved to the City Hall. The Provincial Courant writes on March 30, 1920: 'From morning to evening it is packed… and new people keep coming to see and admire the work of art.' The painting became a symbol of Groningen and not only tells the Relief of Groningen, but also the time and remembers to what the Grote Markt looked like before the destruction of the last days of the war twenty-five years later.

Otto Eerelman (1839 - 1926) was a student of the Minerva Academy in Groningen and a student of the painter J.H. Egenberger with whom he took drawing and painting lessons. After that, he became mainly known as a painter, etching and lithographer thanks to his realistic sketches and paintings of dogs and horses. In 1867 Eerelman was asked to teach at the Minerva Academy and, in addition to his work as a teacher, he received assignments for various portraits. Many Groningen residents allowed themselves to be immortalized by Eerelman. As a painter, he made various portraits of Princess Wilhelmina in her early years and later as Queen.

Many may know the name Otto Eerelman because of the Otto Eerelmanstraat in the ‘Painters district’, named after him.

List of persons appearing in the painting by Otto Eerelman (from left to right):

  1. Berend Ridder
  2. F.F. Leopold
  3. D. Dijkstra
  4. G. Eling Tichelaar
  5. J. Noosten (on his shop sidewalk)
  6. Jhr. mr. W. Alberda van Ekenstein
  7. Herman Welt
  8. Tammo Welt
  9. Jr. A. de Marees van Swinderen
  10. J. Suringa (with top hat: “Jan 28th”)
  11. S.E. Woldringh
  12. Jannes de Waard
  13. C. Struve
  14. C. Nienhuis
  15. M. van der Drift
  16. Van Zeelst (with brown horse blanket), director of the Dresseerschool
  17. Hendrik Kloosterboer (?) (against the nose of Tabor II)
  18. Jan Wijma (behind “Willem” by K. Tiktak, above the back of Tabor II)
  19. Carl Baars (?), monster servant at Tabor II
  20. Nico de Jager
  21. C.F. Reilingh
  22. K.F. Wiersum
  23. S.D. Jensema
  24. G. Rost
  25. H. Hommes
  26. J.E. Scholten
  27. H.Rikkers
  28. E. de Grave
  29. H.Waalkens, mayor of Nieuwolda, chairman of the Provincial Inspection Committee
  30. Mr. Reeling Brouwer (on horseback)
  31. J. de Weerd
  32. K. Tiktak
  33. D. Bolt

Facts & Figures.

  • Artist(s)
    Otto Eerelman

  • Year of creation
    1920

  • Dimensions (in cm)
    233x293.5

  • Collection
    Town Hall Collection

  • Technic
    Oil paint on canvas