Books / Chapters by Peter van der Coelen
This book is published to accompany the exhibition of the same name in Museum Boijmans Van Beunin... more This book is published to accompany the exhibition of the same name in Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (10 October 2015 – 17 January 2016).
Around 1500 Jheronimus Bosch, and later Quinten Massijs and Lucas van Leyden, sparked a revolution in painting. Alongside the religious themes that had been customary until then, they took facets of everyday life as subjects for their panels. With their profane, satirical scenes, images full of mockery and malicious delight, situated in recognizable locations – inns, markets and whorehouses – these pioneers established a new school that reached its greatest heights in the works of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Society was reflected in art with irony and self-mockery. Sometimes there was a moral, but humour and satire predominated. These genre scenes mark the start of a pictorial idiom that endured well into the seventeenth century.
This book focuses on the first group of painters and printmakers who developed the new genre between, roughly, 1500 and 1570. Never before has an exhibition or publication been devoted to early genre art. Unlike a traditional catalogue this lavishly illustrated book, edited by curators Friso Lammertse and Peter van der Coelen, makes up for this lack with a broad overview of the most prominent artists and developments. Six thematic intermezzos turn the spotlight on a number of everyday objects depicted in the paintings and link them to objects in the museum’s collection. The book was designed by Tessa van der Waals.
The New Testament was a major theme in Dutch printmaking of the 16th and 17th centuries. Rembrand... more The New Testament was a major theme in Dutch printmaking of the 16th and 17th centuries. Rembrandt's etchings are the climax of a tradition that began in the Netherlands with Lucas van Leyden, and was carried on by artists like Maarten van Heemskerck, Maarten de Vos and Hendrick Goltzius. Rembrandt's ‘dialogue' with his predecessors is a leitmotif in the exhibition narrative. The catalogue presents a selection of over a hundred prints which together provide a broad overview of two hundred years of Dutch prints of scenes from the New Testament, with artists such as Lucas van Leyden, Pieter Bruegel, Peter Paul Rubens and Anthony van Dyck.
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Books / Chapters by Peter van der Coelen
Around 1500 Jheronimus Bosch, and later Quinten Massijs and Lucas van Leyden, sparked a revolution in painting. Alongside the religious themes that had been customary until then, they took facets of everyday life as subjects for their panels. With their profane, satirical scenes, images full of mockery and malicious delight, situated in recognizable locations – inns, markets and whorehouses – these pioneers established a new school that reached its greatest heights in the works of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Society was reflected in art with irony and self-mockery. Sometimes there was a moral, but humour and satire predominated. These genre scenes mark the start of a pictorial idiom that endured well into the seventeenth century.
This book focuses on the first group of painters and printmakers who developed the new genre between, roughly, 1500 and 1570. Never before has an exhibition or publication been devoted to early genre art. Unlike a traditional catalogue this lavishly illustrated book, edited by curators Friso Lammertse and Peter van der Coelen, makes up for this lack with a broad overview of the most prominent artists and developments. Six thematic intermezzos turn the spotlight on a number of everyday objects depicted in the paintings and link them to objects in the museum’s collection. The book was designed by Tessa van der Waals.
Around 1500 Jheronimus Bosch, and later Quinten Massijs and Lucas van Leyden, sparked a revolution in painting. Alongside the religious themes that had been customary until then, they took facets of everyday life as subjects for their panels. With their profane, satirical scenes, images full of mockery and malicious delight, situated in recognizable locations – inns, markets and whorehouses – these pioneers established a new school that reached its greatest heights in the works of Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Society was reflected in art with irony and self-mockery. Sometimes there was a moral, but humour and satire predominated. These genre scenes mark the start of a pictorial idiom that endured well into the seventeenth century.
This book focuses on the first group of painters and printmakers who developed the new genre between, roughly, 1500 and 1570. Never before has an exhibition or publication been devoted to early genre art. Unlike a traditional catalogue this lavishly illustrated book, edited by curators Friso Lammertse and Peter van der Coelen, makes up for this lack with a broad overview of the most prominent artists and developments. Six thematic intermezzos turn the spotlight on a number of everyday objects depicted in the paintings and link them to objects in the museum’s collection. The book was designed by Tessa van der Waals.
The 17th century was also the Golden Age of Dutch graphic art. Buytewech, Van Ostade and Rembrandt: these are the names of the great printmakers of the period. Their etchings were famous then and they still are today. The works in this catalogue together tell a story that has been virtually ignored until now – the story of the everyday visual world of the 17th-century Dutch citizen.
Many people bought themselves a portrait of a ruler or a naval hero, their favourite minister or priest. Cityscapes and maps were very popular, as were illustrations of historical events large and small: famous battles won at sea and on land, a dike collapse or a stranded whale. A great many of the prints, such as illustrated calendars and symbolic depictions of the seasons, dealt with the passage of time. Illustrations of Bible stories formed a backdrop to everyday life. The 17th-century citizen was constantly reminded of the transience of his earthly existence. Some prints showed him the right path; others presented him with the deceptiveness of the senses, frequently sternly moralizing in tone, but often, too, humorous and inventive.
The vast majority of 17th-century graphic output was meant to be hung on the wall. Paintings were for the elite few, but almost everyone could manage to buy a print now and then. Wealthier citizens often had expensive prints – printed on silk, beautifully coloured or in fine frames. If you could not afford an expensive frame, you simply stuck or pinned a print to the wall. Cabinets and other furniture and everyday objects were also adorned with prints.
The catalogue is structured as eleven ‘tableaux’, which together cover the whole spectrum of the printed pictorial culture of the Golden Age. The first tableau is devoted to the use of graphic art in the 17th century. The other ten tableaux show, usually in the form of pendants, the subjects and themes that were common currency then.
Many of the prints in this catalogue were sold in huge numbers when they were produced. But because they were meant to be used, very few of them have survived. The works here were found as a result of a lengthy search through numerous European print rooms, private collections and libraries.
This essay introduces an exhibition at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen on the development of everyday life as a subject for painting. It provides an overview of the art of the first cohort of painters – along with printmakers – who developed the genre between 1500 and 1570. In the process, it treats the forerunners to 16th-century genre painting, Bosch’s immense contributions at the beginning of the period, and depictions of peasants as introduced by Pieter Aertsen and picked up by Pieter Bruegel. The essay closes with discussion of the uniqueness of the contributions of Netherlandish artists, their selectivity of subject matter, the possible functions of the paintings, and the role that humor played.
Catalogue entries:
- Jheronimus Bosch, The Owls' Nest (http://collectie.boijmans.nl/en/object/90713/The-Owls%27-Nest/Jheronimus-Bosch);
- Jheronimus Bosch, A Woman Spinning and an Old Woman (http://collectie.boijmans.nl/en/object/90729/A-Woman-Spinning-and-an-Old-Woman/Jheronimus-Bosch);
- Follower of Jheronimus Bosch, Warrior with Open Helmet (http://collectie.boijmans.nl/en/object/72995/Warrior-with-Open-Helmet/Anonymous); Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Resurrection of Christ (http://collectie.boijmans.nl/en/object/90655/The-Resurrection-of-Christ/Pieter-Bruegel-%28I%29); Crispijn van den Broeck, The Brazen Serpent (http://collectie.boijmans.nl/en/object/73262/The-Brazen-Serpent/Chrispijn-van-den-Broeck); Pieter Coecke van Aelst, Inn Scene with a Board Game (http://collectie.boijmans.nl/en/object/71782/Inn-Scene-with-a-Board-Game/Pieter--Coecke-van-Aelst-%28I%29); Master of Liechtenstein, David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem (http://collectie.boijmans.nl/en/object/73296/David-Brings-the-Ark-to-Jerusalem/Meester-van-Liechtenstein)
This catalogue is the result of a long-term research project into this unique collection. More than 400 sheets have been catalogued over the last few years and have been accessible on the museum’s website since December 2012. A selection of 140 of the finest drawings appears in this book in colour with descriptions and supporting illustrations.
The collection history and the various functions of drawings are discussed in two introductory essays: designing compositions for prints, paintings or stained-glass windows, studies for parts of them, drawing clothes, folds and drapery, the human body and individual limbs, portraits, animals, plants, landscapes and seascapes. The selection includes magnificent historical, mythological and biblical scenes. The book covers a wide variety of techniques, providing a superb overview of early drawing in the Low Countries.