Amsterdam is home to the Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh museum, and we made stops at both today.
The Rijksmuseum has been around since 1800, which is amazing in its own right. To think that I was looking at paintings by Rembrandt which Van Gogh looked at during his visit to the Rijksmuseum was inspiring. Seeing the works of the Dutch Masters in person was a fantastic experience. The way they handled the paint was so different than what I expected! There was scumbling and a lot of choppy brushwork, which I didn’t anticipate. I thought that Rembrandt and Frans Hals’ works would be terribly precise and well formed, and it was a surprise to see both using techniques which drew attention to the face and hands of their subjects by making the other areas sketchy and almost like an impression of what may be there. My knowledge of art history was helpful, and I found my self anticipating what the audio guide was going to say in regards to color theory and painting technique! The lace is fantastic in this, as are the pearls. They look so real. The lace however works better from further away. While it is very detailed, it looks best from a few feet away.
Portrait of Maria Trip (c. 1619-1683)
I loved the still life paintings, especially because they were painted before photography, yet capture a sense of realism that is often lacking in photographs today. Also, I found it reassuring that as I looked at paintings which are so highly esteemed and part of the cannon, I was able to see flaws which the painter hadn’t been able to erase.
Specifically, in Hendrick Avercamp’s Winter landscape with iceskaters there was a peak of a church’s roof which had a bit of a wiggle in the line. I found this to be seminal in my understanding of painting, and it relieved me of my feeling that I am at times a failure because I can’t paint a straight line.
Winter landscape with iceskaters (c. 1608)
The Van Gogh museum had a special installation on “Van Gogh and the colours of the night” which I enjoyed. I often think of Van Gogh as a painter who focused on the night, and the explanations of how this occurred, as well as a history of his life and how he progressed into madness was fascinating. Seeing some of his other works which were tied to the night theme was interesting, because so often we only see The starry night and Irises. His handling of color and his use of thick paint and visible brush work was absorbing up close. I could have spent hours with my nose close to the glass, trying to figure out which color went where when.
Overall, I believe that I realized that all of the painters who were represented in my major art appreciation day were just painters. They just mixed pigment with binder, stretched canvases, and applied the paint. They did this in an amazing way, yet, at the time they existed, their style was not necessarily in favor. It makes me feel good about the work that I am doing, and while I don’t intend to be a Rembrandt or a Van Gogh, at least I can paint on my images and be secure in that as a worthwhile pursuit.
The starry night over the Rhône (c. 1688)