15Mar 2024 by kike_K No Comments
Pieter Saenredam

Pieter Saenredam

Painting
The indoor and outdoor churches painted by the Dutch Pieter Jansz Saenredam (1597-1665) unveil a certain amount of mystery and a refined special touch and that's the reason they have always been so much captivating over time and for so many painters like Vilhelm Hammershoi or Fernando Zobel. The Saenredam's churches are so different as there is no evident sign of faith, no “grandeur” at all. The characters almost never pray, they just walk along the aisle, visit the chapels, just as they were in a cabinet of curiosities. A touch of austere piety given by the use of colour so measured, so accurate, the rest is just architecture, space and light.
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26Mar 2023 by kike_K No Comments
Gerrit Dou

Gerrit Dou

Painting
To each his own style. The great Dutch master Gerrit Dou (1613-1675) was fond of the strictest order and cleanliness. He was capable of repeating an entire painting if a little dust or dirt was attached to the canvas. We know that only a few volunteers wanted to pose for such a perfectionist painter, the work sessions were endless and exhausting (the painting of a single hand could last a week). I have meet people like him.  It is to Dou’s credit to have been the first pupil of an artist called Rembrandt. He also taught some outstanding painters such as Frans van Mieris and Gabriël Metsu. Within the Dutch school of painting, it seems difficult to find a painter who can compare to him, with his charm and quality.…
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30Jun 2022 by kike_K No Comments
Rachel Ruysch

Rachel Ruysch

Painting
Flowers and Fruits were depicted long time ago for the first time, but in 17th and 18th centuries the still-life subgenus gained importance. Specialized painters arose throughout Europe, especially in the Netherlands. The floral still-life was particularly endorsed and considered as an aesthetic object, a symbol, to the point that it came to be codified in a treaty written by Gerard de Lairesse which was published in 1740. The treaty focusses not only on the composition, the perspective and the colour but also on the way the flowers are set according to the meaning of each species: a tulip refers to nobility, a rose to love and ephemerality. The flowers also appear in the so-called vanitas, still-life where the objects are chosen and set according to a moralizing purpose. The…
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