Private Collection, United States
Johannes Franciscus Spohler was born in Rotterdam, 5th September 1853, the son of Jan Jacob Spohler (1811-1866) and younger brother to Jan Jacob Coenraad Spohler (1837-1923).
Johannes’s father Jan Jacob was a distinguished painter of landscapes, winter and summer and having travelled extensively in the Low Countries spending time in Leiden, Rotterdam, the Hague, settled in Amsterdam where Johannes Franciscus grew up.
Johannes Franciscus would have studied with his father as a boy until Jan Jacob’s death in 1866 whereupon he is likely to have continued his studies with his elder brother Jan Jacob Coenraad who left Amsterdam for Amstelveen in 1874.
Johannes Franciscus specialised in small scale town views, particularly views of Amsterdam and its canals. A successful and renowned painter of town scenes, Spohler died at the early age of forty on 28th June 1894.
His works can now be found in museums across the globe including Museum Bisdom van Vliet in Haastrecht.