With museums across the Netherlands closed to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, burglars used the pandemic to lift a van Gogh painting from the Signer Laren museum.
Netherlands
Posted inNews
After Artist Pens Open Letter, Unseen Art Fair Owners Promise Payment
Felicity Hammond penned an open letter saying she was never paid the fees owed to her by Unseen art fair after it declared bankruptcy.
Posted inFilm
Rotterdam’s International Film Festival Highlights Communism, Unionism, and Environmentalism
The documentaries at this year’s edition tell stories of World War II spies, activists fighting deforestation, Czech political corruption, and more.
Posted inIn Brief
Amsterdam Museum Will No Longer Use “Golden Age” to Describe Dutch Colonial Past
The museum announced that it will no longer use the term to describe 17th century Netherlands, saying it whitewashes its problematic colonial past.
Posted inArt
Repairing a Broken Planet Through Optimism and Design
Could you empathize better with a blade of grass if it had an email address? What about the entire ecosystem?
Posted inIn Brief
Study Suggests Blue and Red Artworks Dominate Auction Sales
Dutch researchers concluded that blue and red paintings spark nearly 20% higher bids at auctions in the US, China, and the Netherlands.
Posted inArt
16th-Century Visions of the Ruins of Religious Wars
As the 16th-century religious wars raged around Europe, Dutch artist Maarten van Heemskerck collaborated with printmaker Philip Galle on a series of 22 engravings featuring Old Testament destruction.
Posted inNews
Dutch Soccer Hooligans Damage Historic Bernini Fountain in Rome
Dutch soccer fans wreaked havoc on Rome over the past two days, damaging a 17th-century fountain designed by Bernini and leaving the city’s historic center strewn with trash.
Posted inArt
Advocating for Glow-in-the-Dark Roads with Vincent van Gogh
A glow-in-the-dark bike route inspired by Vincent van Gogh’s “Starry Night” debuted this week in the Netherlands. It’s part of a larger vision to illuminate infrastructure with solar energy captured during the day.
Posted inNews
Rijksmuseum Acquires One of the Earliest Landscapes of America
The Rijksmuseum has acquired one of the earliest depictions of America — a painting by Jan Mostaert from circa 1535 titled “Landscape with an Episode from the Conquest of America.”
Posted inNews
What’s Happening to Culture in Europe?
The latest news from Europe this week is that everything is falling apart — at least in terms of arts and culture. And it’s depressing.
Posted inOpinion
Is Holland Going Through a Cultural Meltdown? [UPDATED]
You may have seen it in the New York Times: a half-page ad warning readers “Do not enter the Netherlands. Cultural meltdown in progress.” The ad (which apparently cost $26,000) was bought by a group called Dutch Artists 2011 to protest the catastrophic funding cuts proposed by Holland’s Geert Wilders, the far-right leader of the Party for Freedom (the third largest political party in the country). Wilders would cut arts funding from €800 million to €200 million, decimating Dutch cultural organizations. Where does the situation stand now?