Amsterdam's image makeover - art reborn
Inside the Rijksmuseum, which houses Amsterdam’s finest art collection
Amsterdam is cleaning up its act, The Guardian reported in April last year. The city that was once defined by its tolerant vibe, notorious brothels and cannabis cafes was now striving for an image makeover. And one of the key components of this transformation was the renovation and reopening of its major museums, such as The Van Gogh Museum, the National Maritime Museum and the Rijksmuseum — the Dutch answer to the Louvre.
Rijksmuseum, built in 1800, first opened its collection to the public as the Nationale Kunstgallerij (National Art Gallery). In 1808, it was established as the Royal Museum by Louis Bonaparte, the king of the Netherlands at the time and Napoleon’s brother. In 1885, the Rijksmuseum moved to its existing building in the Museum Square, which was designed in the then fashionable Dutch neo-Renaissance style by Dutch architect, Petrus JH Cuypers. After 10 long years of renovation, the Rijksmuseum once again opened its doors to visitors on April 13, 2013, and received a record number of 2.2 million visitors that year making it the most visited museum in the Netherlands. And it continues to be a popular destination for art aficionados ever since.
From its impressive façade to the surrounding natural beauty, the museum immediately sets the right aesthetic tone for its visitors. The spacious lobby and reception area provides informative guidebooks for both adults and children that highlight key collections and famous artworks. Covering the entire expanse of this exhibition, however, is a Herculean task due to its massive scale and capacious collection spanning artwork from 1100 AD to 2000 AD. From Vermeer to Van Gogh and Rembrandt to Mondrian, along with an exceptional collection of Dutch antiques, a vast collection of prints, drawings and classic photography, the museum has everything an art connoisseur could ask for.
I started with The Renaissance section which has delightful, brightly rendered paintings from the life of Christ (many of them, triptychs), ornaments, tapestries, sculptures and weapons on display. There is also an exceptional diptych showing leading Florentine architect di Cosimo and his musician father, the earliest portraits to characterise sitters by their profession. While the subjects are the focal point, as in most other paintings of this era, a sense of depth has been created with a well-rendered sky and cottages in the background. Nearby, an illuminated book of genealogy, dating back to 1590, features portraits from 800 years and 26 generations of the Count of Culemborg’s ancestry. Chalices dating back to 1100 AD in gilded silver, which were an emblem of beauty and wealth, are also on display. A yellow paper with the words, ‘Only idiots like pretty sweet things’, is posted near one of the pieces as part of the museum’s ‘Art is Therapy’ movement that questions the role of art. Similar thought-provoking signs are posted throughout the museum.
In the section with pieces from 1800s onwards, one can see works by masters, such as Van Gogh and Daubigny. Here, religious imagery gives way to a study of landscapes and portraits of ordinary people. Van Gogh’s famous self-portrait as a fashionable Parisian, though rather small, is also on display. The paintings in this section have a sense of calm as compared to the melodrama of the medieval paintings, which is reflected in the colours as well.
Nearby, a room based on Historicism from the mid-19th century accurately depicts historical events in Baroque, Rococo, Classicism and Gothic styles. Many paintings depict court art, a style devised by Napoleon and followed by other European courts. Huge beautifully rendered paintings including the museum’s largest painting, The Battle of Waterloo (1826), portraying the Duke of Wellington and soldiers in a larger-than-life battle scene are also on display. Other paintings depict battles at sea, as well as impressive stone sculptures of renowned personalities.
Going a century back in time (1600-1700), you will find mansions recreated in painstaking detail as large wooden dollhouses. Little figurines in period costumes can be seen cooking, sitting or resting, amid heavily embroidered tapestries and wallpapers and minute art pieces that adorn the walls. Across the halls, bright glass paintings of historical figures, such as Plato, adorn the windows and the painted walls carry their own narratives.
Even though the Rijksmuseum is replete with elaborate and impressive paintings, Rembrandt’s Night Watch (1642), identifiable immediately due to its popularity, holds its ground. The group portrait of the Amsterdam militiamen is renowned for its gigantic size (11.91 ft × 14.34 ft), the effective use of light and shadow (chiaroscuro), and the observation of motion in what would have traditionally been a static military portrait. The painting was completed at the peak of the Dutch Golden Age and shows the men moving out, led by Captain Frans Banning (dressed in black, with a red sash) and his lieutenant, Willem van Ruytenburch (dressed in yellow, with a white sash). Its composition not only allows ample eye movement but also captures emotions effectively.
After viewing such a thorough expanse of art, the third floor, with work from the 1900s to 2000s is a welcome change. The technological advancements of the time are reflected in the minimalist, innovative pieces, with an abstract, colourful drive for modernism. Apart from a rather small aircraft from the early 1900s, this section features modernist painter Karel Appel’s works as well as a piece from Yves Saint Laurent’s 1965 collection, inspired by Dutch minimalist Piet Mondrian.
The museum is highly recommended if you want to see the works of artistic giants and observe how art practices evolved visually over the last millennium. The shift in art’s purpose over the years, and the need to constantly question and revise its aim is also clearly evident. As you exit, an ‘Art is Therapy’ paper on the wall mentions that many pieces on display were ‘pieces of propaganda’ of their times hailing it as a positive thing. It suggests that the current ‘art for art’s sake’ attitude should be replaced by ‘making suggestions on how to become a better person through the help of art’ — a worthwhile thought to leave the building with.
Shanzay Subzwari is a fine arts student at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture.
She tweets @ShanzaySubzwari
Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, August 24th, 2014.
Rijksmuseum, built in 1800, first opened its collection to the public as the Nationale Kunstgallerij (National Art Gallery). In 1808, it was established as the Royal Museum by Louis Bonaparte, the king of the Netherlands at the time and Napoleon’s brother. In 1885, the Rijksmuseum moved to its existing building in the Museum Square, which was designed in the then fashionable Dutch neo-Renaissance style by Dutch architect, Petrus JH Cuypers. After 10 long years of renovation, the Rijksmuseum once again opened its doors to visitors on April 13, 2013, and received a record number of 2.2 million visitors that year making it the most visited museum in the Netherlands. And it continues to be a popular destination for art aficionados ever since.
The exceptionally realistic dollhouse of Petronella Oortman, who was married to the Amsterdam merchant Johannes Brandt. PHOTO SOURCE: CREATIVE COMMONS, WIKIPEDIA
Portrait of leading Florentine architect di Cosimo and his musician father, Francesco Giamberti da Sangallo. PHOTO SOURCE: CREATIVE COMMONS, WIKIPEDIA
From its impressive façade to the surrounding natural beauty, the museum immediately sets the right aesthetic tone for its visitors. The spacious lobby and reception area provides informative guidebooks for both adults and children that highlight key collections and famous artworks. Covering the entire expanse of this exhibition, however, is a Herculean task due to its massive scale and capacious collection spanning artwork from 1100 AD to 2000 AD. From Vermeer to Van Gogh and Rembrandt to Mondrian, along with an exceptional collection of Dutch antiques, a vast collection of prints, drawings and classic photography, the museum has everything an art connoisseur could ask for.
I started with The Renaissance section which has delightful, brightly rendered paintings from the life of Christ (many of them, triptychs), ornaments, tapestries, sculptures and weapons on display. There is also an exceptional diptych showing leading Florentine architect di Cosimo and his musician father, the earliest portraits to characterise sitters by their profession. While the subjects are the focal point, as in most other paintings of this era, a sense of depth has been created with a well-rendered sky and cottages in the background. Nearby, an illuminated book of genealogy, dating back to 1590, features portraits from 800 years and 26 generations of the Count of Culemborg’s ancestry. Chalices dating back to 1100 AD in gilded silver, which were an emblem of beauty and wealth, are also on display. A yellow paper with the words, ‘Only idiots like pretty sweet things’, is posted near one of the pieces as part of the museum’s ‘Art is Therapy’ movement that questions the role of art. Similar thought-provoking signs are posted throughout the museum.
In the section with pieces from 1800s onwards, one can see works by masters, such as Van Gogh and Daubigny. Here, religious imagery gives way to a study of landscapes and portraits of ordinary people. Van Gogh’s famous self-portrait as a fashionable Parisian, though rather small, is also on display. The paintings in this section have a sense of calm as compared to the melodrama of the medieval paintings, which is reflected in the colours as well.
Nearby, a room based on Historicism from the mid-19th century accurately depicts historical events in Baroque, Rococo, Classicism and Gothic styles. Many paintings depict court art, a style devised by Napoleon and followed by other European courts. Huge beautifully rendered paintings including the museum’s largest painting, The Battle of Waterloo (1826), portraying the Duke of Wellington and soldiers in a larger-than-life battle scene are also on display. Other paintings depict battles at sea, as well as impressive stone sculptures of renowned personalities.
Going a century back in time (1600-1700), you will find mansions recreated in painstaking detail as large wooden dollhouses. Little figurines in period costumes can be seen cooking, sitting or resting, amid heavily embroidered tapestries and wallpapers and minute art pieces that adorn the walls. Across the halls, bright glass paintings of historical figures, such as Plato, adorn the windows and the painted walls carry their own narratives.
Even though the Rijksmuseum is replete with elaborate and impressive paintings, Rembrandt’s Night Watch (1642), identifiable immediately due to its popularity, holds its ground. The group portrait of the Amsterdam militiamen is renowned for its gigantic size (11.91 ft × 14.34 ft), the effective use of light and shadow (chiaroscuro), and the observation of motion in what would have traditionally been a static military portrait. The painting was completed at the peak of the Dutch Golden Age and shows the men moving out, led by Captain Frans Banning (dressed in black, with a red sash) and his lieutenant, Willem van Ruytenburch (dressed in yellow, with a white sash). Its composition not only allows ample eye movement but also captures emotions effectively.
Van Gogh’s famous self-portrait as a fashionable Parisian. PHOTO SOURCE: CREATIVE COMMONS, WIKIPEDIA
Rembrandt’s NightWatch, his largest and most famous canvas shows one of several halls of Amsterdam’s civic guard, the city’s militia and police. Rembrandt was the first to paint figures in a group portrait actually doing something. PHOTO SOURCE: CREATIVE COMMONS, WIKIPEDIA
After viewing such a thorough expanse of art, the third floor, with work from the 1900s to 2000s is a welcome change. The technological advancements of the time are reflected in the minimalist, innovative pieces, with an abstract, colourful drive for modernism. Apart from a rather small aircraft from the early 1900s, this section features modernist painter Karel Appel’s works as well as a piece from Yves Saint Laurent’s 1965 collection, inspired by Dutch minimalist Piet Mondrian.
The museum is highly recommended if you want to see the works of artistic giants and observe how art practices evolved visually over the last millennium. The shift in art’s purpose over the years, and the need to constantly question and revise its aim is also clearly evident. As you exit, an ‘Art is Therapy’ paper on the wall mentions that many pieces on display were ‘pieces of propaganda’ of their times hailing it as a positive thing. It suggests that the current ‘art for art’s sake’ attitude should be replaced by ‘making suggestions on how to become a better person through the help of art’ — a worthwhile thought to leave the building with.
Shanzay Subzwari is a fine arts student at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture.
She tweets @ShanzaySubzwari
Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, August 24th, 2014.