Readers, Welcome to my blog (formerly Birds, Blooms, Books, etc). I'm entering a new decade taking on the challenge of moving from Maryland after living there 46 years and learning about my new home here in New England in the Live Free or Die state - New Hampshire. Join me as a write this new chapter of my life.
Showing posts with label Vermeer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vermeer. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

Rijks Museum - Amsterdam

Our guided tour of Amsterdam from our ship brought us to the plaza fronted by lots of museums and the famous concert hall.


With the hour or less we had we went to the Rijks Museum to see the famous Rembrandt painting "Night Watch".


A lot of the visitors were more interested in taking their own photos on the I Amsterdam sculpture.


It is a huge museum as you can see and we had time to see a fraction of what was there.

We paid our entrance fee and headed to the Rembrandt floor.  This stained glass caught my eye.


Here's Dan getting his bearings.


And here's the painting with a class sitting in front of it.


But first to the other paintings in this gallery.  Rembrandt's self portrait.  We learned later he died in poverty.


Many other massive paintings on the walls.


Back to Night Watch and there's a crowd in front now.


Look to the right and there's this huge painting.


Finally I get a closer look at Night Watch.


Dan has told me that one of the figures in this painting has the same last name as my son in law.  He doesn't know which one.  I guess it could be one of these.


Or one of these.


Or these?


Unlikely to be her.


From Rembrandt we went in search of Vermeer.  The one below was my favorite.











There's no mention of her being pregnant.

The galleries were beautiful and very crowded.



Dan took time to study the perspective in this painting.  As he did the gallery attendant kept watching him and then moved closer to see what he was up to when he held up the brochure to compare the lines.  He didn't touch the painting but she couldn't see that from where she was.


We learned later from our guide that a very quick acting attendant who just happened to have a bottle of water with him saved the Night Watch from an acid attack by throwing water on the acid thrown on the painting.  Now all the attendants carry water.


Next stop was the Van Gogh exhibit on another floor.  There is an entire museum in Amsterdam devoted to him but you need to purchase tickets ahead of time on line.







One more glance into another gallery and it was time to meet up with the guide again and go on a canal boat tour.


Saturday, December 9, 2017

Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting

Friends went with Dan and I to see this exhibit at the National Gallery of Art in Washington on Thursday.  It's a must see exhibition if you are anywhere near DC.  Ends on January 21st.

Apparently in the Dutch Golden Age of genre painting (scenes from daily life) there was quite a bit of overlap among the artists of the time: Johannes Vermeer, Gerard ted Borch, Gerrit Dou, Frans van Mieris, and Gabriel Metsu.  They often featured the same pose and daily activity.

Look at these paintings. Three different artists, very similar poses and activity.






And again with these three.




Were they trying to out do each other?  Were they inspired by each other? Were they learning from each other?

There are almost seventy paintings in the exhibit from 1655 to 1680.  All of them are lovely glimpses into Dutch life.

The detail in these paintings is incredible.  Enjoy!










Did you notice all the dogs in the paintings?

Want to learn more?  Here's the link to National Gallery of Art.

Linking to Tuesdays Treasures