Hobbe Smith
(Witmarsum 1862 – Amsterdam 1942)
The Magere Brug in Amsterdam
Signed l.l.
Oil on canvas, 32.6 x 42.6 cm
N.B.:
The Magere Brug, or Skinny Bridge, is a well-known landmark in Amsterdam. It owes its name to the original narrow bridge connecting both banks of the river Amstel near the Kerkstraat. In 1934 a completely new bridge was built after a design by the architect P.L. Kramer (1881-1961), which copied the narrow nineteenth century bridge on a larger scale.
There is a legend that the bridge is named after the ‘Skinny Sisters’, these two sisters each lived on another side of the Amstel. It is said that the bridge was built so they could meet more often.