A beautiful oil painting on canvas by Emil Rizek (1901- 1988), depicting The Waag in Delft. Unique because very few works are known about it and the building has a rich history.
Originally De Waag was a government building where merchandise was weighed. It is written about as early as 1342, but expanded in 1539. As an active trading town, Delft was obliged to weigh its merchandise in a city weighing house. Nice detail is that the large scales on which cheese and butter were weighed can still be seen today in De Waag. The upper floor of De Waag housed successively gold and silversmiths and later a doctors’ and pharmacists’ guild. This is reflected on the stone on the current rear facade. Then, around 1798 it housed a gymnasium and a telephone exchange. Around 1960 the last cheeses were weighed in De Waag, after which the building served as a bicycle shed, and from 1973 it became a theater. After a renovation, we are then living in 1999, the eponymous current Eatery and Restaurant moves into De Waag.
This unique work of De Waag, with its beautiful light, was created by Emil Rizek. It gives an atmospheric glimpse into the activity of yesteryear, how cheese is unloaded, weighed and priced.
Emil Rizek was born and educated in Vienna. He was a pupil of Carl Fahringer. In 1927 he came to the Dutch East Indies and traveled through the archipelago. Emil Rizek visited Java, Bali and Sumatra, but also worked in the Netherlands. His work shows great affinity with that of Roland Strasser, Willem Dooyewaard and Carl Fahringer.
The canvas measures 70 x 80 cm and can be provided with a frame of your choice.
(Source internet)
