Synopses & Reviews
During the seventeenth century, Dutch artists were unparalleled in their dedication to depicting ordinary people doing everyday things. Genre painting was the preeminent expression of this dedication, offering candid glimpses into the peasant cottages and village courtyards of the Dutch Golden Age, each painting lit with the periodandrsquo;s vibrant color palette and rich with radiant natural light.
This superb collection by the curators of an accompanying exhibition focuses on a selection of works of Dutch genre painting from the Royal Collectionandrsquo;s holdings. and#160;Johannes Vermeer, Jan Steen, Gerrit Dou, Gabriel Metsu, and Pieter de Hooch are among the masters whose works are finely reproduced here. While the subject matter may be ordinaryandmdash;the preparation of food, the bustle of a busy market, the enjoyment of taverns and town festivitiesandmdash;the meticulously documented details often allude to a workand#39;s deeper meaning or to moral messages that would have been familiar to the contemporary viewer. The book explores these hidden moral messages, as well as the artistsand#39; penchant for clever visual puns.
Readers interested in the Dutch Golden Age or seventeenth-century art will welcome this volume. Individual essays on each painting, close-up photography showing important details, and a selection of comparative images add to the bookand#39;s richness and provide valuable context.
Synopsis
The 17th-century in the Netherlands is known as the Golden Age of Dutch art, and the art produced during that period is among the most popular in history. During this time, the Dutch Republic reached unprecedented power. Banking and the first truly global trade routes generated staggering levels of new wealth that, coupled with political and religious freedom, created a vibrant atmosphere in which the arts flourished. Celebrated portraitists Hals and Rembrandt painted haunting images of the country's new civic leaders and wealthy patrons. Genre painter Vermeer conjured unforgettable scenes of daily life, while Cuyp, de Witte, and Heda captured the Dutch countryside and its prosperous new cities and created intricate, richly symbolic still lifes. This sumptuous book features these and other Golden Age greats, along with a selection of fine Delft pottery, glassware, and silver that attests to the luxurious refinement of the era.
Synopsis
Few art collections in the world can rival that of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Built in 1885, the iconic museum holds more than a million works, with a particular focus on Dutch mastersandmdash;its collection of works by Van Gogh, Vermeer, and Rembrandt are unparalleled.
The museum recently reopened after a ten-year renovation that cost more than $400 million, and the result is stunning: never before has the Rijksmuseumandrsquo;s collection been displayed so well. This book offers a lavishly illustrated chronicle of both the collection and the building that houses it. Though nothing can replace an actual trip to the Rijksmuseumandmdash;as the more than two million annual visitors can attestandmdash;this book comes as close as possible, taking art lovers on a virtual tour of the greatest masterworks of Western art in a building that is brilliantly designed to show them at their best.and#160;
About the Author
Desmond Shawe-Taylorand#160;is Surveyor of The Queenandrsquo;s Pictures, Royal Collection Trust.Quentin Buvelot is Senior Curator at the Mauritshuis. His recent books include Dutch Portraits: The Age of Rembrandt.