AMSTERDAM.- The Rijksmuseum presents the first exhibition devoted to Hendrick Avercamp, the foremost painter of Dutch winter landscapes in the 17th century. Avercamp was the first Dutch artist to specialise in paintings of winter landscapes featuring people enjoying the ice. Some 400 years on, our image of life in the harsh winters of the Golden Age is still dominated by Avercamp's ice scenes with...
The Netherlands produced three of my dozen favorite painters (see below), an amazing yield for so small a land. Amsterdam houses museums for two of them—Rembrandt and van Gogh—and the Rijksmuseum also has a few specimens from the limited output of Vermeer. But perhaps a sunny Saturday was not a good time to visit the [...]
The God of Israel sent the Egyptians plagues each time they refused to release the Jews from slavery. The last of these was the death of the firstborn of Egypt. The story is told in the book of Exodus. Laurens Alma Tadema, later Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema painted the pharaoh of Egypt with the body of his eldest son, who was not spared either. The mother is clinging to her child in grief. Servants are...
Big Fish Games - Youda Legend - The Curse of the Amsterdam Diamond Big Fish Games - Youda Legend - The Curse of the Amsterdam Diamond Upon arriving in Amsterdam you sense a mystery in the air! The dark influence of an old curse still haunts the city of Amsterdam, and it`s up to you to lift it! The mystery begins in your hotel room and will have you use your Hidden Object skills in famous locations,...
Two photos today, both of a hypocephalus. Hypocephalus means “under the head” and is an apt name for these objects. hypocephalus (rmo leiden, cartonnage thebe ~300 bc) Mysterious and magical, the hypocephali are inscribed pieces of papyrus, sometimes mounted on cartonnage discs that were placed beneath the head of the mummy. Some of [...] Related posts: Friday Photo: Riddle of the Sphinx...
A relaxing way to spend a cold winter evening is to pour a (large) glass of sherry and get stuck into a jigsaw featuring one of Hendrick Avercamp's wonderful paintings of 17th century Dutch winter landscapes. The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has posted an excellent video podcast on Avercamp's paintings to go with its forthcoming exhibition "Hendrick Avercamp: The Little Ice Age". Curator Pieter...
AMSTERDAM.- The Rijksmuseum's Tavern Scenes exhibition gives an idea of what it was like to be in a tavern in the 16th and 17th-century. Taverns, fairs, village revelries and the accompanying feasting and fighting were favorite themes in art of the Low Countries in the 16th and 17th-centuries , and were meant to be both entertaining and educational. This graphic pub-crawl in 18 prints and drawings...
So, you’re in Paris for vacation but have a hankering for the art and museums of Amsterdam. Normally, you would have to catch a costly flight or train ride to get a glimpse of an extensive Dutch collection. But this winter the Pinacothèque de Paris teams up with the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam to present a [...]
In a ceremony on November 4 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art the Dutch flower bulb sector named a tulip after Ayaan Hirsi Ali ‘Ayaan’ in recognition of Ms. Hirsi Ali’s defense of freedom and human rights for Muslim women. Ms. Hirsi Ali, a feminist, author, activist and former member of the Dutch parliament completed the traditional naming ceremony by drizzling champagne over the...
Amsterdam: Museum plants 'Ayaan' Tulips Hiris Ali participated in the naming ceremony in New York . One hundred black tulips named after the former Liberal MP and Islam critic Ayaan Hirsi Ali have been planted in the garden of Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum, Nos tv said on Friday. Museum director Wim Pijbes said the museum is a house where independent spirits can blossom. 'The museum wants the christening...
After several years in the Netherlands, I confess I don't get over to our beautiful and plentiful museums as often as I should. However, there is one night every year that I never miss and always involves me, good friends,...
Amsterdam, October 30, 2009 – The OCOM Group finished number 27 in the 2009 Deloitte Technology Fast50, the annual election of the fifty fastest-growing technology firms in the Netherlands. OCOM is the owner of hosting provider LeaseWeb, the CO2-neutral data center EvoSwitch, and network service provider FiberRing.
The Amsterdam Centraal Station sits atop three artificial islands suspended by 8,687 wood poles. This station's opening in 1889 effectively cut off the main city from its waterfront, forever altering the growth of Amsterdam. PJH Cuypers and AL van Gendt designed the structure with innovative technology, including a 40m cast-iron roof span. Similarly to Cuypers' Rijksmuseum , this building establishes...
This charming lady is Hortense de Beauharnais. Her father, a member of an old aristocratic family, had been decapitated during the French Revolution. Her mother's second husband was Napoleon Bonaparte. In 1802, Hortense, then 19, married her step-father's brother, Louis. In 1806, Louis Bonaparte was placed on the Dutch throne and Hortense became Holland's first queen. Yet she rarely went to the Netherlands...
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