Leo Gestel was trained at the Rijksnormaalschool of Amsterdam, where he graduated in 1903. The first years after school he worked as an illustrator of books and designed advertising leaflets. During his school period he became friends with Jan Sluijters (1881-1957), with whom he went to Paris in 1904. Like Sluijters, Gestel’s work can be characterized by a variety of styles, including Fauvism, Cubism, Futurism and Expressionism. In general his work is deliberate and spiritual in content. Gestel’s work, mainly figures, landscapes and stil lifes, played an important role in Dutch modernism in the early 20th century, together with his contemporaries Piet Mondriaan and Jan Sluijters. A large part of Gestel’s work, around 400 paintings, were destroyed in his Bergen studio during a fire in in 1929. After the incident, Gestel moved to Blaricum, where he remained until his death on 26 November 1941.[1]

One of the first doctors to develop plastic surgery, Johannes Esser (Leiden 1877 - 1946 Chicago) started collecting traditional artists from The Hague School and Amsterdam impressionism. Early on, Esser discovered Dutch modernism and without much support by the art market, he endorsed many artists while amassing a vast collection of approximately 1,000 works between 1905 and 1913. After this relatively short period of frantic buying, he continued to collect but at a slower pace. He was a true patron of the arts, acquiring at least 73 works by Mondriaan and over 150 works by Gestel. He lent the majority of his collection to public institutions but also held a single owner sale in 1919, to raise funds for a utopian Surgical Country for independent treatment of war victims. Of the many reconstructive procedures Esser invented, his skin graft technique is still used today.

The Nieuwe Amstelbrug, bridge number 101, designed by H.P. Berlage (1856-1934), opened on 5 July 1903, connecting the south and eastern parts of the city. Made out of steel, the bridge allowed for heavy traffic and trams to go through. With its electric lanterns, this structure by one of Holland’s most prominent architects was certainly a worthy design for Gestel’s modernism and inspiration for several works.

The present pastel is a preparatory drawing for two paintings: a smaller painting of the same subject, formerly also in Esser’s collection, and a larger painting in the collection of the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam. The location depicted on the Amstel connects the Ceintuurbaan and the Amsteldijk with the Weesperzijde, Ruyschstraat and Eerste Oosterparkstraat. Threequarters of the elongated composition is occupied by large black-brown barges, the bridge partially visible at the top, the lights of the bridge flickering in the water.

[1] A.B. Loosjes-Terpstra, Moderne Kunst in Nederland 1900-1914, Utrecht 1959, p. 142; W.v.d.Pluym, Leo Gestel, Amsterdam 1936, p. 19; A. Venema, Nederlandse Schilders in Parijs 1900-1940, Baarn 1980, p. 209