WILLEMSTAD – From 19 December 2025 through 7 February 2026, Het Curaçaosch Museum will exhibit De Handelskade (1885–1890), a historic photograph of Willemstad’s iconic waterfront taken by the Curaçaoan studio Soublette et Fils. The image forms part of the Eregalerij on Tour, a traveling showcase of ten iconic works from the Dutch Photography Gallery of Honour, presented at ten venues across the Kingdom—from community centers and festivals to libraries and museums. Each location highlights one single photograph.
A Glimpse into Willemstad’s Maritime Past
The featured image captures the bustling activity along the Handelskade, then the commercial heart of Willemstad, capital of Curaçao and at the time also of the Netherlands Antilles. In many ways, it is a timeless scene: for centuries, Curaçao has been a pivotal hub for maritime trade in every direction. The large sacks pictured may have contained Curaçao’s valuable sea salt, a major export. Other goods may have arrived from nearby Venezuela, for which Willemstad served as a transit port.
Yet the photograph also evokes a difficult historical truth it does not show: Curaçao was a Dutch colony where, between 1665 and 1863, the Dutch West India Company traded enslaved people—an inhumane enterprise from which the Netherlands profited greatly.
About Soublette et Fils
Curaçaoan photographer Robert Joseph Soublette and his son Tito operated a respected studio in Willemstad. Between roughly 1880 and 1920, Soublette et Fils produced studio portraits and cartes de visite. The studio was known for its technical sophistication—equipped with ideal daylight and American-imported equipment—and for its specializations in panoramic photography and large group portraits.
Their reputation was such that Queen Wilhelmina granted them the title of “Purveyor to the Royal Household” in 1906. Beyond portraiture, the Soublettes documented economic activity, landscapes, and so-called “folk types,” a genre widely circulated at the time—particularly through postcards—though now recognized for its racialized perspective. Their strong eye for composition is clearly visible in the Handelskade photograph.
A Local Historical Dimension
To complement the collaboration, Het Curaçaosch Museum is adding a local historical layer by exhibiting a selection of portrait photographs from its own collection, also taken by Soublette et Fils more than a century ago, some even older. These studio portraits highlight the craftsmanship of father and son, who were among Curaçao’s leading photographers around 1900 and officially held the royal warrant from 1906 onward.
The combined exhibition offers visitors a rare opportunity to view both an internationally significant historic image and the local photographic legacy that shaped Curaçao’s early visual history.