Common Folk Collections: No. 1 Dutch Renaissance Revisited
"early Netherlandish paintings reveal the pursuit of a common goal—to make the painted image vividly present and to render the unseen palpable." - Early Netherlandish Painting, Met Museum
I first noticed what I would call a Dutch Renaissance resurgence, when I discovered what has since become one of favorite food blogs. I remember showing the blog to my Mom and discussing with her how inspiring and unique it seemed to be, yet there was something I recognized that I couldn't quite put my finger on. She suggested I look up the Dutch Renaissance and so began the treasure hunt for the pieces which now make up this collection.
Now might be a good time to let you in on a little secret (that is perhaps not so secret), my Mom is a huge influence in my life and one of the reasons for this is because of her contagious passion for art. I remember when we were kids she had a stack of post cards of paintings by famous artists and she would go through them with us taking time to describe how by the artists brush strokes/subject matter/ etc. we could tell the paintings apart. Honestly, as a kid I would cringe whenever the cards came out because I would have much rather been.. reading. Even though only a few of the painters have stuck with me: Degas (ballerina's - every girl has him as a favorite at one point or another), Picasso (the crazy one/cubism), and Van Gogh (the sad guy who loved the stars) I see that my Mom was cultivating what would become a great curiousity about and love of art.
Because of my Mom's encouragement to delve into the Dutch Renaissance one discovery led to another and I now see glimpses of it's influence everywhere I turn. I wonder if that is how Bill Cunningham feels when he starts to put together one of his infamous spreads for the New York Times.Throughout this collection I will highlight areas where I have been seeing the influence of Dutch Renaissance, but in the meantime instead of "Where's Waldo" how about we play where do you see the influence of the Dutch Renaissance? Please stay tuned as tomorrow we will delve deeper into this collection.
"For any artist to have a voice in the arts or to create timeless art, he must understand his craft." - How Does Art Become Timeless, Samuel Adoque
Image One: Lampshade, Hendrick Kerstens
Image Two: Portrait of a Young Girl (Woman), Petrus Christus c. 1472