Martin Monnickendam painted the backs of the houses on Amsteldijk and Tolstraat from the window of his studio on Lutmastraat on a sunny spring day. We see the tower of the building housing the city archives, and blossom floats through the air. After graduating from the Rijksakademie Monnickendam took lessons at the École des Arts et Metiers in Paris. There he developed his style of painting, which is sometimes Impressionist and always colourful and applied with a thick layer of paint.