Eliot's Travels

Rijksmuseum - The Masterpieces

The Rijksmuseum is undergoing a huge rennovation until 2009. That hardly diminishes your visit, since the masterpieces are still on display in one main building. In fact, I cannot imagine seeing the entire museum. For our visit, mom chose the artistic's perspective audio tour (rather than the historical perspective). It was a fantastic tour of the museum's highlights, trying to show you the artists perspective for each work. Fantastic! Check out the collection at:
http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/collectie/index.jsp?lang=en

These were some of mine and mom's favorites.

Frans Hal, Wedding portrait of Isaac Abrahamsz Massa and Beatrix van der Laen, 1622

One really interesting point made for this painting was that Frans Hal put exceptional detail into the bride and grooms faces and lacework around the neck, but utilized a blurry, almost haphazard technique in some of the other parts (his pants and the greenery).



Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn
Rembrandt's use of light and texture is really special. He can pay amazing attention to detail, especially fabrics and faces. Seeing his work up close was truly an experience.
The company of Captain Frans Banning Cocq, known as 'The Night Watch', 1642
Portrait of Maria Trip, 1639
Isaac and Rebecca, known as 'The Jewish bride', 1665
This work was especially moving for its intimacy and the fabric detail. It almost looked like it was gold. Vincent van Gogh said of the Jewish bride: "I'd give ten years of my life to be able for 14 days to just sit in front of this painting."

The museum also had a nice collection of historical objects including silver pieces and ships from the VOC days and of course Delftware. The most unusual pieces included a shoe and a violin out of the traditional blue pottery. Flower pots with spouts, (also known as the tulip vase from the tulip mania days in the 1630s - http://www.stock-market-crash.net/tulip-mania.htm) Delftware, 1710-1720


Johannes Vermeer, The kitchen maid, 1658

The narrator spoke of the woman who's been pouring milk for three centuries. Vermeer didn't create many works, but those he did are wonderful. Vermeer was from Delft.

The Doll's House of Petronella Oortman, 1686-1705

Seventeenth-century doll's houses were not children's toys, they were a hobby. In the 17th century, many wealthy Dutch merchants had collections of one sort or another, which they kept in display cabinets. The wives of these well-to-do gentlemen also had collections, which reflected their personal interests: their homes. Some had large cupboards full of miniature furniture and dolls, replicas of a real home. These doll's houses were sometimes on a magnificent scale. Whenever an important visitor dropped by, the host and hostess would show their collections. The master of the house would open the drawers of his cabinet and explain the contents to his guests, while his wife gave a comprehensive demonstration of her doll's house. She would display the contents of the cupboards, reveal hidden spaces, light the lamps and would let real water gush from the fountain in the garden. Doll's house demonstrations sometimes went on for hours. for ladies, comparable to the cabinets in which gentlemen kept their collections. This is one of three seventeenth-century doll's houses that have survived intact. It was commissioned by Petronella Oortman, a wealthy Amsterdam lady. The house is remarkable in that all of the components are made exactly to scale. Petronella ordered miniature porcelain objects from China and commissioned furniture makers and artists to decorate the interior. It was extremely costly to create a model house like this. Petronella probably spent between twenty and thirty thousand guilders on her doll's house. In the seventeenth century she would have been able to buy a real house along one of the canals for that price.

The doll houses were truly amazing - little versions of a real house, a magnificant house from the 17th century.

Hendrick Avercamp, Winter landscape with ice skaters, 1609

This work was interesting because it showed real people - a man going to the bathroom behind a shed, wealthy people skating or taking a ride in a sleigh, poor people going about their work. The overall scene was great: a frozen canal in Holland.

The museum also had special exhibitions on Jan Steen and Jan van der Heyden (1637-1712), artist and inventor (of the fire hose).

The Rijksmuseum rounds off Rembrandt's 400th anniversary year with a temporary presentation of a major work by the artist: his Portrait of Catrina Hooghsaet (1657). Since this painting has been part of a private collection in the United Kingdom for over a hundred years and is rarely lent out, it has remained relatively unknown. Catrina has only appeared in the Netherlands twice, once for Rembrandt's 300th and once for his 350th anniversary. The museum provided a wonderful pamphlet detailing the significance of this painting.

posted by Whitney @ 9:26 AM