Studies of houses on the Keizersgracht and Herengracht

After his sojourn in Belgium and Paris, Leliman looked at Amsterdam’s ring of canals through different eyes. He had fallen under the spell of a new French style: eclecticism, the free use of historical forms for contemporary architecture. On returning to the Netherlands, Leliman looked through ‘eclectic’ spectacles at the Dutch canalside houses. In doing this he discovered a typically Dutch style: an attractive combination of traditional masonry, various kinds of arches and Renaissance ornamentation. From 1855, Leliman emerged as an advocate of eclecticism. These studies of Amsterdam’s canalside facades reveal that he was seeking historical foundations for this.