Art and well-covered nudes
In this January's Quest Magazine there was an article about big women and the love of painters like Rubens for well-covered women. There was also an opportunity to win tickets for the exhibition 'Rubens, Van Dyck & Jordaens. Flemish painters from the Hermitage' in the Hermitage in Amsterdam and I won!!
So yesterday the hubby and I went to the Hermitage in Amsterdam. I never thought I'd really like such an exhibition, but I really did. To stand in front of the huge paintings is really impressive. Of course I've seen pictures of some paintings, but seeing the actual painting is so different. Some of the paintings are just paintings and others come to live. I discovered I like the works of painter Jacob Jordaens best. He paints his portraits with emotion while some other painters like Rubens paint the faces without emotion. That's the best way to describe it.
This was one of the paintings we liked best (Self portrait with Parents, Brothers and Sisters by Jacob Jordaens):
This is a postcard we bought at the Hermitage and like I said, you have to see the painting itself to see the beauty we saw in it. When we were standing in front of it, it looked like we were looking at the people through a window, like they were real. This painting wasn't the most beautiful painting we saw there, but we couldn't find a reproduction of that painting in the shop.
The most remarkable painting I saw is this one, Concert of Birds by Frans Snyders:
I really loved it because of the beautiful birds and it's kind of weird and weird is good. :-)
But the real reason we came to the Hermitage was paintings like these (Venus and Cupid by Hendrick van Balen and Jan Brueghel I):
Nowadays women are supposed to be thin and perfect, but back then painters like Rubens painted well-covered women. That's much more realistic and beautiful.
We had a lovely time at the museum and I know I'd like to visit more exhibitions.
So yesterday the hubby and I went to the Hermitage in Amsterdam. I never thought I'd really like such an exhibition, but I really did. To stand in front of the huge paintings is really impressive. Of course I've seen pictures of some paintings, but seeing the actual painting is so different. Some of the paintings are just paintings and others come to live. I discovered I like the works of painter Jacob Jordaens best. He paints his portraits with emotion while some other painters like Rubens paint the faces without emotion. That's the best way to describe it.
This was one of the paintings we liked best (Self portrait with Parents, Brothers and Sisters by Jacob Jordaens):
This is a postcard we bought at the Hermitage and like I said, you have to see the painting itself to see the beauty we saw in it. When we were standing in front of it, it looked like we were looking at the people through a window, like they were real. This painting wasn't the most beautiful painting we saw there, but we couldn't find a reproduction of that painting in the shop.
The most remarkable painting I saw is this one, Concert of Birds by Frans Snyders:
I really loved it because of the beautiful birds and it's kind of weird and weird is good. :-)
But the real reason we came to the Hermitage was paintings like these (Venus and Cupid by Hendrick van Balen and Jan Brueghel I):
Nowadays women are supposed to be thin and perfect, but back then painters like Rubens painted well-covered women. That's much more realistic and beautiful.
We had a lovely time at the museum and I know I'd like to visit more exhibitions.