The arched bridge at the very top right of the painting is a visual motif that connects this otherwise tropical scene to the Central Park boat basin in New York City. There is tropical vegetation along the riverside, with palm trees in the background, and at the bottom left in the foreground we see a tobacco plant. Veldkamp often returns to the tobacco plant and the coca plant; both look pretty but bear grim reminders of the colonial past and the relationship between North and South in the Americas. The long boats that traverse the water are representative of traditional, wooden Surinamese boats.

Miko Veldkamp

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Miko Veldkamp