Old Friends/The Knightwatch

Painting

-

Calvin University Center Art Gallery

The image portrays two elderly men, George Harper on the left and William Spoelhof on the right engaging in a thoughtful conversation, both seated and deeply focused on their exchange. The man on the left, dressed in a casual light blue shirt, leans slightly towards his companion, who is attired in a formal suit with a striped tie. Spoelhof's arm is extended and he is looking at his watch.

The image portrays two elderly men, George Harper on the left and William Spoelhof on the right engaging in a thoughtful conversation, both seated and deeply focused on their exchange. The man on the left, dressed in a casual light blue shirt, leans slightly towards his companion, who is attired in a formal suit with a striped tie. Spoelhof's arm is extended and he is looking at his watch.

Name/Title

Old Friends/The Knightwatch

Entry/Object ID

2013.11.1

Description

Painting of Professor of English Emeritus, George (Tom) Harper and College President Emeritus William Spoelhof.

Type of Painting

Panel

Artwork Details

Medium

Oil

Category

Alumni Artist, Calvin Faculty Artist, On-Display at Calvin University, Calvin University, People
Historical

Made/Created

Artist

Frank Speyers

Date made

2012

Dimensions

Dimension Description

image size

Height

36 in

Width

48 in

Dimension Description

frame size

Height

38-1/2 in

Width

50-1/2 in

Exhibitions

Art Faculty Exhibition 2012 - September 4 - October 20, 2012
Fyfe/Campus Plan Exhibition - August 22 - November 3, 2023

Interpretative Labels

Label

Frank Speyers
 Dutch-American
 The Knight Watch, 2012
 oil on birch 
 Gift of Frank and Bonnie Speyers, 2013.11.1

 This painting portrays Professor of English Emeritus, George (Tom) Harper and College President Emeritus William Spoelhof. Their relationship began as teacher and student—Spoelhof, having graduated from Calvin College in 1931, became Harper’s middle school teacher at Oakdale Christian School five years later—and over subsequent decades the two became colleagues and good friends. During World War II Spoelhof worked in the Office of Strategic Service (a forerunner of the CIA) and helped re-establish civil government in post-war Netherlands, for which Queen Beatrix made him an Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau. Returning to Calvin in 1946, Spoelhof taught history and political science. He was appointed president of the College in 1951. Harper, after serving as a communication specialist in the Pacific Theater during World War II, returned to civilian life and earned a doctorate in English. In 1952 Spoelhof recruited him for Calvin’s English Department. Over the first decade of this century, artist Frank Speyers came to know and love both men thanks to the weekly coffee gatherings of the ‘Emeritorium’. Hearing one day Spoelhof and Harper comment on the brief half-life of the memento Knight Watches that the college bestows on faculty with twenty-five years of service, he knew he had the title for the painting.