Douwes Fine Art

History of Douwes Fine Art

Europe's oldest single-family art gallery celebrated its 200th anniversary in 2005!

The Douwes tradition started with a restoration workshop as early as the 1760's, because already in the fashionable Amsterdam of the second half of the 18th century, the Douwes forebears tried to meet the desire of those that wanted the beautiful ceilings of their imposing canal houses painted and restored.
These days, the firm still belongs to the same family, and has been passed on from father to son for many generations. The present owners of Douwes Fine Art are in effect the seventh and eights generation. However, according to the official regulartions of the St. Lucas guild, abolished shortly after in 1808, they prefer to start counting from their entry as an independently registered business on September 5th, 1805. Now in its sixth generation of art dealing and restoring since then, this prestigious art gallery is the oldest of its kind in The Netherlands