I am not an art critic.
In fact, my knowledge of art is limited to my primary school sketches that were hardly decipherable.
However, when an opportunity to visit the renowned national museum in Amsterdam arose during a recent visit to The Netherlands, who was I to decline?
Joining a group of friends from West Africa, we make our way to the museum located in the heart of Amsterdam.
Again, my rendezvous to any museums were limited to the occasional visits to Kenya National Museum during my school days.
Unlike in Africa where museums are just a collection of bones and other cultural artifacts, museums in Europe contain multi-billion dollar collections that may as well equal or surpass the GDP of some of the world’s poor nations.
At the entrance, we are met by a group of tour guides who brief us on the house rules. No flash photography; do not touch any painting; do not make noise...
The official name of the museum is The Rijksmuseum.
Like other Dutch words, I try not to pronounce it.
The museum, we were informed was founded in The Hague in 1800 and moved to Amsterdam in 1808.
After closing for 10 years to allow for renovations, it was reopened in April last year and has become the most visited museum in The Netherlands and hosts more than 2.2 million visitors.
The museum hosts 8,000 pieces of artwork by such greats as Vincent van Gogh, Rembrandt and Johannes Vermeer, spanning several centuries.
As a matter of fact, the masterpieces by these three are the museum’s main attractions. Displayed in one corner of the museum are a number of paintings by van Gogh, one of the world’s prolific but troubled painters.
Coming from a family of painters, it seemed natural for van Gogh to try his hand in painting.
However, van Gogh also dabbled as a preacher in England following his father’s vocation.
SELF-POTRAITS
His self-portraits here are crowd pullers. Where there were no phones to take “selfies” it is heartwarming to see the quality of his self portraits that were meant to earn him money as well as hone his skills as an artist.
But did you know why van Gogh resulted to self-portraits? Initially, the painter used peasants as models. At some point however, he ran out money to pay the models and he did not have many people commissioning him to do portraits. In the words of the curator, van Gogh, who suffered several bouts of mental illnesses, did did not sell any of his works, now worth millions of dollars.
On the upper floor of the museum lies yet another world acclaimed masterpiece. Johannes Vermeer’s Milk Maid has intricate details that continue to inspire artists the world over.
The image portrays a typical Dutch maid conscientiously performing her domestic chores, presumably making bread porridge by mixing milk and bread.
Her tools of trade are meticulously laid out: stoneware jug, a basket, brass bucket, the milk jar and the bowl.
Vermeer uses light to enhance the scene. Light falls on her from a broken pane, illuminating the entire activity.
Shadows too add a subtle dimension to the room as evidenced by a nail on the wall that casts a soft shade on the scene.
Except the flow of milk, everything else stands still. The maid stands like a statue in the well lit room. This is Vermeer at his best in depicting an intimate, totally unperturbed atmosphere.
We move on to the farthest end of the building, attracted by the museum’s signature piece of art.
Rembrandt’s Night Watch is the only painting in the museum guarded by two security personnel. It portrays a Dutch militia company, a kind of a quick response unit that could be summoned at a moment’s notice to quell a riot within the city.
Under the captainship of Frans Banninck Cocq and his assistant Willem van Ruytenburgh, the company that had 16 other men is seen emerging from the dark, poised to embark on an evening mission.
This was exceptional as people in such portraits were depicted either standing or sitting stiffly next to each other.
Rembrandt made good use of light to convey the mood in the painting. The excited girl on the captain’s right is seen in full light.
The curator adds yet another detail to the painting. “It was President Obama who noticed how the shadow from the captain’s waving left hand falls on his assistant.”
The remarkable LED lighting by Philips has been key to noticing such intimate details.
“Lighting influences the way we look at art in a museum and is crucial to showcase every single detail of the artwork,” stated Tim Zeedijk, Head of Exhibitions at the museum. “The illumination of each art piece has been individually tuned and focused to bring out its unique features and to ensure the best possible experience for visitors.”
