Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum and The Hague’s Mauritshuis have jointly acquired one of the most important winter landscape scenes from the Dutch Golden Age: Colf Players on the Ice, painted around 1625 by Hendrick Avercamp. To celebrate its homecoming, the masterpiece will first go on display in a special exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in Kampen, Avercamp’s birthplace, from October 3rd to January 10th, 2027. After that, the two museums will split custody. This is the first time the Netherland’s two greatest museums, respectively home of Rembrandt’s The Night Watch and Vermeer’s Girl With a Pearl Earring, are sharing an artwork.
Between 1575 and 1625, northern Europe experienced a period of severe winters known as “The Little Ice Age.” The rivers, canals, lakes and ports of below-sea-level Holland froze over for months. Avercamp was the first Dutch artist to specialize in depicting winter scenes, capturing people enjoying the cold in sports like ice skating, sledding and colf, and experiencing the harshness of having to work and live in such conditions.
Colf Players on the Ice is regarded as a highlight of Avercamp’s oeuvre. Unlike in his earlier winter landscape teeming with human figures, the artist focuses here on a small group in the foreground. The low vantage point makes us feel that we too are on the ice, and part of the scene. The focus is on two men playing colf – one of the oldest ball games in the Low Countries, and a forerunner of golf – as fishers, passers-by and other spectators watch the game. The painting is therefore not only a fabulous wintry scene, it is also the earliest known depiction of colf.
Colf was a popular year-round game in the Netherlands, played in the squares, church yards and the streets of town. Like golf, it was played by hitting a ball with a club, but unlike golf, the target was a vertical stick rather than a hole. Walloping balls through the streets of small, densely-inhabited towns had the unfortunate side-effect of breaking a lot of windows, and many towns passed ordinances prohibiting the game. The icy surfaces away from windows made the ideal colfing pitch.
Avercamp’s winter scenes are filled with details, capturing people from all walks of life. In Colf Players on the Ice, the gentleman in kuitbroek (knee breeches) wields the colf club while commoners like an ice fishermen and the little boy with a net helping him watch the game. The clothes are a snapshot of fashions followed by the merchants and burghers, as well as the rugged winterwear of the working classes.
For many years, the painting was on long-term loan to the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, from the collection of British art dealers Edward and Sally Speelman. Speelman is an expert in Dutch old master paintings, and has amassed a significant private collection. They sold Colf Players on the Ice for a hefty price tag of $13 million.
The acquisition is very important for the Netherlands. Although several paintings by Avercamp are in Dutch public collections, almost all of them are early works. Colf Players on the Ice , on the other hand, shows the innovative nature of his mature style, and is thus an essential addition to the Dutch national collection.
Facts Only
* The Rijksmuseum and Mauritshuis jointly acquired "Colf Players on the Ice" by Hendrick Avercamp.
* The painting depicts a winter landscape from around 1625.
* The artwork will be displayed in an exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in Kampen from October 3rd to January 10th, 2027.
* After the exhibition, the two museums will split custody of the work.
* Avercamp specialized in depicting winter scenes during "The Little Ice Age" (1575–1625).
* Avercamp was the first Dutch artist to specialize in winter scenes.
* "Colf Players on the Ice" focuses on a small group playing colf, including fishers and spectators.
* The painting is noted as the earliest known depiction of colf.
* Colf involved hitting a ball with a vertical stick rather than a hole, played on icy surfaces.
* The painting features varied clothing representing different social classes during the era.
* The painting was sold for $13 million by Edward and Sally Speelman.
Executive Summary
Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum and The Hague's Mauritshuis have jointly acquired Hendrick Avercamp's painting, "Colf Players on the Ice," which depicts a winter landscape from the Dutch Golden Age, painted around 1625. To celebrate this acquisition, the artwork will first be shown in an exhibition at the Stedelijk Museum in Kampen, Avercamp's birthplace, from October 3rd to January 10th, 2027. Following the exhibition, the two museums will share custody of the painting. This marks the first time these two institutions, renowned for holding Rembrandt's "The Night Watch" and Vermeer's "Girl With a Pearl Earring," are sharing an artwork.
Avercamp specialized in depicting winter scenes during the period of the Little Ice Age, which caused northern Europe to experience severe winters where bodies of water froze over. Avercamp was a pioneering Dutch artist known for capturing people engaging in winter sports and experiencing harsh conditions. The painting itself is considered a highlight of his work, focusing on a small group playing colf, which is identified as an early depiction of the game. Colf was a popular, year-round game in the Netherlands, played on icy surfaces, and the painting shows figures representing various social classes through their clothing.
Full Take
The narrative presents a story of cultural re-centering and the elevation of specific artistic contributions within a national collection framework. The focus shifts from simply cataloging historical objects to emphasizing an artist's innovative, mature style—specifically Avercamp’s depiction of contemporary social life interwoven with landscape. The mechanism of shared custody between two major Dutch museums introduces a dynamic about the collective ownership and interpretation of cultural heritage across different institutional mandates.
The underlying pattern is one of value assessment: the piece moves from being an object held by private collectors (via the $13 million sale) to becoming an essential component of the national collection, specifically validated as representing the "innovative nature" of Avercamp's mature style. This suggests a tension between market valuation and cultural significance. Furthermore, the context provided—Avercamp's specialization in documenting the physical reality of life during the Little Ice Age through activities like colf—frames the artwork not just as a scene but as a primary historical document reflecting social, physical, and artistic adaptation. The implied implication is that focusing on this work provides a necessary counterpoint to the established narrative of Dutch Golden Age masters, reinforcing the idea that foundational cultural understanding requires acknowledging those who documented lived experience outside the high-art tradition.
BRIDGE QUESTIONS: If the acquisition is about shared custody, what does this suggest about the institutional priorities when managing works that bridge historical periods and specific regional artistic innovation? How might the presentation in Avercamp's birthplace facilitate a broader engagement with the context of the Little Ice Age beyond strictly visual representation? What are the long-term implications for how Dutch art history balances the canonized masters with those who documented daily, physical realities?
Sentinel — Human
The text reads as a well-researched, engaging article smoothly weaving together art history, social context, and the specific details of an acquisition; it exhibits clear human narrative construction.