Gooische Kleuren at Engels Verf Specialists

Authentic Gooische Kleuren now available at Engels Verf.
From 1 September 2024 we have had the honour of adding the Gooische Kleuren by Anton Willem from Hilversum to our range. These Gooische Kleuren, such as dark green, deep red and antique brown, have a special story…

Anton Willem Sprong, born in 1887, started his own painting business in 1914, just before the First World War broke out. He came from a family of eleven children who had moved from Vianen to Hilversum in 1895. Most of the boys were craftsmen: plumber, bricklayer, carpenter, plasterer and painter.
Anton Willem learned his trade at the carriage factory near the market square. The painters stood in their clogs in a shallow pool of water in the hall. The water was meant to prevent dust from swirling up. The lacquer had to sit perfectly on the carriages, and dust was fatal to that.

The Gooische Kleuren of Anton Willem

When Anton Willem was 27, he started his painting business on the Bosdrift. In 1924 he began making his own paint because, as a painter, he was not satisfied with the factory quality of the time. Making paint was a lengthy process. Linseed oil and zinc white were mixed and had to react together for several months “rotting” as it was called. This produced a thick paste which was then ground fine with a stone on a marble slab. From that era comes an original colour chart of the shades popular in the Gooi region in the 1920s (“the Gooische Kleuren of Anton Willem”). Lots of dark green, deep red and antique brown. These are true Gooise colours. Many houses in Hilversum and the surrounding area were painted in these shades.

After the Second World War, son Piet joined the shop. This proved to be a great success, as the eager-to-learn Piet became an authority on paint and wallpaper. All paint was made in-house by Piet, while his wife Riet served the customers in the shop. The individual components of the paint were delivered in large buckets and made to their own recipe. At the time the range consisted of just a few colours, something that is unthinkable today.

In 1982 Piet passed the shop on to his son Ton Sprong and his wife Willie. Ton is now the third generation of Sprongens in the shop, and “The Gooische Kleuren of Anton Willem” continued to be honoured and held a prominent place in the shop, resulting in a great many houses being painted in the authentic “Gooische Kleuren”. In September 2024 the shop closed its doors for good, but Engels Verf has had the honour of adding these special Gooische Kleuren to its range.

Buy Gooische Kleuren paint at Engels Verf in Amsterdam

At the specialist stores of Engels Verf you can find the authentic Gooische Kleuren. Get advice at one of our three branches in Amsterdam! We look forward to welcoming you and providing honest, expert and personalised advice.