This is part 2 of a multi-part post about Craig’s parents’ visit to Europe.
Part 1: Netherlands: An Introduction to Amsterdam
We’ve seen quite a bit of art on this trip (and some before), and I don’t think it’s too bold to make this claim: Dutch Golden Age painting is the pinnacle of the form. Amsterdam is home to the Rijksmuseum, one of the best art museums and, by far, the best museum to see art from 17th. century Netherlands. The Rijksmuseum is my second favorite museum (sorry, the Prado wins out, but it’s close), so I was a little more than excited to be able to give the folks a guided tour of some of the highlights of the Rijksmuseum. Unfortunately, it has a has a high volume of of great masterpieces, which makes paring down the tour to a manageable morning was a chore I didn’t relish, but I think we managed OK.
We saw numerous Rembrandt works, including The Night Watch, that spanned his career, showing his ability to capture detail, gradations of light across skin, and folds in black silk against a black background. We saw 3 of the 34 confirmed Vermeers, including The Milkmaid; a number of works from my favorite Dutch artist, Frans Hals; Willem Claesz Heda still lifes that you’d believe are photos; and the arresting The Threatened Swan by Jan Asselijn. Then we had lunch.
After lunch in one of the many gardens surrounding the building, we returned to the museum to collection to see the Rijksmuseum’s collection of model ships, porcelain, other non-painting works of art, like carved coconuts.
Of course the Dutch didn’t quit advancing art in the 17th century. Amsterdam is also home to a museum of a master of 19th century avant garde – Vincent Van Gogh. When my parents were planning the trip, Dad had expressed a keen interest in seeing the museum. Our reservations were for Friday morning, which just happened to coincide with a introductory mini-lecture of Vincent’s life and works. And, wow, that presentation was worth the 30 minutes – it put Vincent’s works in context and underscored how prolific he was, painting over 800 works in the ten years he was a painter. Although most of Vincent’s well-known pieces are in museums around the world, the museum’s collection and the story it tells impressed the folks, I think. Visitors to Maison Jennings take note of the Bedroom in Arles pillow, imported from the Van Gogh Museum’s gift shop!
Saturday we planned on a day trip to Delft to continue our Dutch Art Quest ‘18 with a visit to the Vermeer Centrum Delft (the Vermeer museum). The museum doesn’t have a single original Vermeer, but it does have scale reproductions of all 34 of his confirmed works (and 3 works whose provenances are disputed) with a brief story behind each. It also shows visitors how he mastered painting light and detail. After the museum and lunch, we saw a couple of churches, one of which is Vemeer’s final resting place. But, it was while we were refueling with coffee and apple tart (pie) that we called an audible and decided to go to The Hague that afternoon to see some original Vermeers.
The good thing about the Netherlands is that its small size means you can get from one town to another pretty quickly. It’s a 15 minute tram ride from Delft to The Hague, where the Mauritshuis is. The Mauritshuis is small art museum home with about 200 works on display, including Rembrandt’s The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp and The Goldfinch by Carel Fabritius. Our draw, however, was the museum’s most famous painting, Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring and two of his other works. After this visit, the Vermeers Seen count was at 6. I was so glad we got to see the Mauritshuis. It’s my third favorite museum. I wouldn’t have been sad if we missed it, but getting there again and with my parents is in my top five things about this trip so far.
