S’Hertogenbosch

This post starts with the question: ‘Where does faith come from?’ Using the Bible to answer. Then because it is a very rainy day we go into the Noordbrabants museum to see some early Van Gough paintings amongst other works.

Where does faith come from?

Paul speaking: ‘ God has dealt to each of us a measure of faith.’

Romans 12:3

‘ And the apostles said to Jesus/ the Lord, increase our faith.’

Luke 17:5

Paul then reminds us again:

‘ Look to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.’

St. John’s Cathedral and a well appreciated square by brides and their photographers. It is either raining or going to rain and very cold.

The first area I would like to see in the Noordbrabants Museum is van Gough’s paintings. The province of North Brabant was where van Gough was born and lived with his parents at different times. One home he particularly enjoyed was for the garden and a place separate from the house to do his paintings.

The family home with his art studio to the right. Van Gough found dusk ‘ inexpressively beautiful’ and so this painting has the title ‘ The Vicarage at Nuenen at Night, Nov 1885.’

This is a close copy of a water colour he did of the garden at the back.

It was fascinating to see beer tankers of the type used in the the Brabant inns at the time that he had painted them in 1885. Here he practiced rendering the effects of light and shade.

It was difficult to see what was depicted in the next painting of his: ‘Farming Village at Twilight October 1885’ but through a photograph one could. It was amazing what one saw. He called the mossy-roofed cottages ‘ little human nests.’ This photograph is light filled compared to the painting.

At the end of 1885 van Gough left his homeland and though he meant to return, he never did. Many places in the Brabant province recall van Gough and his work. I was pleased to see these early works done here in the Netherlands.

Here are a few other paintings I was pleased to see.

Here in south Holland both willows and poplars are pollarded. Both trees are incredibly water thirsty and possess aggressive root systems that stabilize the muddy banks of canals, polders, and dikes.

These gnarled trunks and dense crowns are maintained by pruning every 2-3 years ( late autumn early spring). They are the ‘national tree’ of the province of South Holland.

Pollarded poplars. The cut branches of willow and poplar are traditionally used for fencing, hurdles and eco-friendly hydraulic engineering.

Here is a painting by Sluijter.

Pollard Willows at the Slatuinen 1907.

His choice of painting willows is close to van Gough’s treatment of this subject in the Brabant regions of Etten and Nuenen. Sluijters’ use of colour and application of paint in dots and stripes alsoshows his affinity with van Gogh’s work.

The next painting of his is influenced by Cubism after he travelled to Paris in 1911.

Geraniums 1912

‘The geraniums and the balustrade give a point of reference in the interplay between light and colour.’ ( from the notice on the side.)

It would be difficult to ignore flowers heaped in vases. Tulips, peonies and even a sunflower all carefully painted with dark backgrounds.

The sunflower the tallest in the garden, and forget about weight and size, put it like a sun at the top. Outrageously beautiful.

Then this. A painting by Frans Ykens. His work was collected by Reubens. This is one of the largest, most ambitious compositions. Ykens often collaborated with other artists who painted figures. The black woman depicted here may have been based on a study of a servant or enslaved person living in Antwerp. This information was in a sign on the wall.

Still Life with Flowers and Fruit 1645-1650

Flowers in painted in detail for those who may never have seen the real. All the seasons mixed. A festival of colours and shapes.

Time spent, time filled, time to remember…

How poignant it is to observe twice over: the painter and then the ‘seeer/looker’!

Look at the veins on the leaves.

My attempt a leaf pressed in paint then stamped on white.

There is one more painting before we go back into the rain. It is by Pieter Brueghel de Jonge. Here is what is said about the painting:

‘ High above the crowd the crucified Christ rises against a sinister landscape.

‘In the background lies the idealized city of Antwerp, which also contains buildings from Jerusalem. The situation of a biblical setting was made fashionable by Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Brugel the Elder.’

If I be lifted up from the earth…

I will draw all people to me.

He said this to indicate the way He would die.

John 12: 32,33

Pain suffered by all people but His was for us.

It was a rainy day in s’Hertogenbosch but a day to remember.

Take care,

Sandy 🙂