Making and Meaning study trip Rotterdam, The Hague, Amsterdam, May 2010

1. Making and Meaning study trip Rotterdam, The Hague, Amsterdam, May 2010

2. Rotterdam Museum Boijmans van Beuningen After an early start in Glasgow, lunch first……

3. Rotterdam Museum Boijmans van Beuningen Exhibition The fake Vermeers by Van Meegerenpresented a fascinating display on the Van Meegeren case and trial, presenting some of the fakes after Old Masters Van Meegeren made, including the famous Emmausgangers, plus evidence for the court case against him. An interesting comment on issues of connoisseurship and authenticity.

4. Rotterdam Museum Boijmans van Beuningen The Boymans van Beuningen museum owns The Little Dancer Aged 14 by Edgar Degas (1880-1881, cast in bronze 1922, with a cloth skirt and ribbon). Degas’ wax statues were cast in bronze after his death. Each one (c. 30, now spread across major museum collections) has a different tutu, due to deterioration of the textile which forced the museums to replace the original skirt with a new one. However, each museum came up with a different solution resulting in fierce discussions on authenticity.

5. Rotterdam Museum Boijmans van Beuningen Olafur Eliasson - Notion motion, 2005 and repeated 2010.

6. The Hague, Mauritshuis The Young Vermeer exhibition brought together three early Vermeers from Dresden, Edinburgh and the Mauritshuis. This connected well with the exhibition on Van Meegeren in Rotterdam. We also visited the conservation studio of the Mauritshuis where Petria Noble, head conservation discussed their ongoing Rembrandt research. Johannes Vermeer, Diana and her Nymphs, 1653-54, oil on canvas

7. The Hague, Panorama Mesdag Panorama Mesdag is the oldest panorama painting in the world that is still in its original location. Painted by Hendrik Willem Mesdag, 1831-1915 and several contemporaries. The canvas is 14.5 m high and 114.5 m long. It was lined and cleaned in a massive conservation project.

8. The Hague, Panorama Mesdag The Panorama shows Scheveningen in 1881 and is lit by ever changing daylight. The viewers stand on a sand dune complete with grasses, wooden chairs, etc. with the sounds of sea birds and the sea in the background.

9. Making and Meaning study trip 2010The Hague And of course the Dutch speciality ‘zoute haring’ needs to be experienced the Dutch way….

10. Amsterdam, Ateliergebouw, Rijksmuseum conservation studios The ‘Ateliergebouw’, Amsterdam was opened in November 2007 and houses the Scientific Department of the Netherlands Institute for Cultural Heritage (ICN), the University of Amsterdam's training programme for preservation and conservation, and the conservation studios of the Rijksmuseum (RMA).

11. Painting Conservation Studio, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Discussion with painting conservator Willem de Ridder, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam

12. Painting Conservation Studio, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

13. Metal Conservation Studio, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam In the metal conservation studio the conservator explains the treatment of a 17th century decorative table piece that includes minute replicas of flowers, insects, lizards made ‘after nature’ with life models cast in wax and then metal.

14. Metal Conservation Studio, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam One of the flower/plant ornaments.

15. Metal Conservation Studio, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam And…. one of the tiny lizards. On the right you see the lizard under the microscope which revealed all the extreme detail of scales etc.

16. Paper Conservation Studio, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam The paper conservator Idelette van Leeuwen discussed the treatment of this model and various other projcts.

17. Painting Conservation Studio, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Dr Arie Wallert, Scientific Curator, explains the reconstruction of a recipe to make lapis lazuli blue and azurite. Arie also discussed and showed cross-sections of the Van Meegeren ‘Vermeer’s which he analysed for the exhibition in Rotterdam.

18. Painting conservation, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam Dr Ella Hendriks, Head Conservator at the Van Gogh Museum, discussed the conservation of the famous Bedroom painting.

19. Painting conservation, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam It was an unique experience to see this iconic painting out of the frame from closeby. Follow its restoration and Ella Hendriks’ blog ‘Bedroom Secrets’: http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/blog/slaapkamergeheimen/en/

20. Painting conservation, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam Van Gogh under the microscope…a different perspective. Ella Hendriks points at colour changes and specific technical ‘secrets’.

21. Painting conservation, Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam The cleaning of the painting is ongoing. The red arrow points at the area in the small picture that is still covered with a yellowed varnish. The left part is cleaned.

22. Amsterdam And we also visited other Amsterdam ‘classics’, such as Café Welling (left) ,and Amsterdam’s oldest Jazz Café, Café Alto, where Hans Dulfer, the famous Dutch saxophone player performed with his band.

23. Royal Palace, Amsterdam Our last visit was to the Royal Palace on the Dam Square, where Emilie Froment, painting conservator, showed us around and explained the conservation and renovation project of the Palace which is now again open to the general public. The Palace was originally built as the city hall for the magistrates of Amsterdam and was designed by the architect Jacob van Campen. In the 17th century it was the largest secular building of Europe. It was an interesting example of specific issues concerning conservation of art works in situ, reconstructions of lost parts, and use of architectural drawings from the 17th century, as well as other documentation.

24. Making and Meaning Study trip Rotterdam, The Hague, Amsterdam, May 2010 THE END