Last Sunday
we went to the Hermitage in Amsterdam
to watch the Van Gogh collection that’s temporarily housed there, as well as a
nice collection of impressionist and contemporary paintings.
In the
museum shop I picked up a book by Michel Didier, De Ridder en de grootvorstin. Kunst en leven van Willem II en Anna
Paulowna. This can be loosely translated as The knight and the Grand Duchess. Art and Life of … The book looks
at this couple mainly from an art historical viewpoint, but includes a lot of
biography. The advantage is that this also brings a lot of illustrations.
Willem was rarely out of uniform, nor were his sons |
For me the
interesting bits were how Willem’s actions at Quatre Bras and Waterloo were remembered in Dutch
(and foreign) art. It’s not my style of poetry or painting, and its purpose didn’t lend
itself well to better characterisations of the man. But it illustrates well how Willem's military successes (deserved or not) served the nation building and legitimacy of the Orange monarchy.
Didier is
not too sure on military details, as even I could spot. It is unlikely that
Willem would have received his honours for the battle of Nivelles already in
1814. Willem’s tactical abilities are not questioned but his bravery is
highlighted.
The book
also glosses lightly over the darker side of Willem’s life, the many scandals,
affairs and schemes and his political failures. I think this book (and
publisher, from the other books it publishes) is aimed at the loyal monarchist
crowd and therefor not too critical. What does get a fair amount of attention is the difficult relationship with Willem’s
father and other family relations, as well as dynastic concerns.
So not much
to recommend it to military historians, unless you have a particular interest in the artistic
expressions rendered in tribute or in commission of Willem. Or if you are a
loyal monarchist, of course.
Of course, this book was in the shop because of the link between the Netherlands and Russia, as the Hermitage's home is in Petersburg.
A interesting combination of two great artists:Van Gogh's 'copy' of a woodprint by Hiroshige |
The Van
Gogh collection is amazing and charts Vincent’s progression as an artist in
detail. From his peasant painter period to impressionism to expressionism,
continuously learning and adapting his style. And all this in the span of only
10 years. He must have been an exceptionally driven person.
It's hard to capture the mastery of this painting, as the picture of a postcard dulls the colours, but you can see how the strokework emphasises the lightfall |
We also
enjoyed the exhibition on the impressionists. I enjoyed how the exhibition
opposed the impressionist with the established art from the Academie Francaise
and how the impressionist were forced to create their own parallel network of
exhibitions. I found it telling to see that many of the impressionist, such as
Renoir, still attempted to gain access to the Academie, and thus to the
galleries and collectors.
The
exhibition really mixed impressionism, conventional artists and contemporary
event very well. You get this view from the perspective of Russian art
collectors that have wound up in the Hermitage collection.
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