Re-opened Lakenhal museum, art and history

On 9 August 2019, again to the recently re-opened Lakenhal museum in Leiden.

Like during our earlier visit, first to hall #1, where this 1642 painting by Susanna van Steenwijk, depicting the Lakenhal, hangs.

Then, we went to the film hall, to see a documentary on the reconstruction of the museum.

We went to the first floor. The exhibits there are about the history of Leiden city. Especially about the 17th century Leiden textile industry. Then, the Lakenhal was not yet a museum, but a quality control building for the textile business.

On the first floor, various paintings by Isaac Claesz van Swanenburg (1537 – 1614), depicting the Leiden textile industry.

This painting depicts women spinning and weaving. The work of art is a whitewash. Van Swanenburg depicted women workers as ladies wearing fine expensive clothes. In another painting, he depicted male workers as gentlemen in expensive attire, including big ruff collars which made working basically impossible. In reality, textile work was in sweatshops. Male workers got low wages. Female workers even lower wages. And six-year-old child labourers hardly any wages.

Van Swanenburg’s whitewash is not that surprising: he was not only a visual artist, but also the mayor of Leiden.

On the second floor was art from the nineteenth century and later.

There was a hall with paintings by Leiden artist Alexander Hugo Bakker Korff (1824-1882), and also his paintbox.

Other second floor halls showed later 19th and 20th-century artists, most with connections to Leiden. Like Theo van Doesburg, who founded the early 20th century artistic De Stijl movement in Leiden.

On the staircase, poems by, eg, Henriette Roland Holst and Hans Lodeizen.

Lakenhal museum, Lucas van Leyden, Rembrandt, Wolkers

This June 2019 Dutch video shows a preview of the Lakenhal museum in Leiden, the Netherlands, before it officially re-opened after years of reconstruction.

It shows especially exhibition hall #3, about the 16th century. We went there on 30 July 2019, after we had seen halls one and two. At the end of hall #2 was a big window with a fine view of the city, especially eighteenth-century windmill De Valk.

This video is about returning the most famous painting in hall #3, the Last Judgment by Lucas van Leyden, from its temporary stay in the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum during the Lakenhal reconstruction, to Leiden.

This 2011 video is about a Lucas van Leyden exhibition in the Lakenhal before the reconstruction.

The hall includes an anonymous 1530-1535 painting about the life of Saint Anthony. Some interesting details: an owl near the underside. And one of the devils tormenting the saint has a nun’s headgear on; which may be hinting at criticism of the Roman Catholic hierarchy.

These two videos are about the restoration of the 1515-1517 The Crucifixion of Christ, by Cornelis Engebrechtsz. Engebrechtsz is the most represented sixteenth-century Leiden painter in the third hall.

There is also work by one of Engebrechtsz pupils, Aertgen van Leyden. Rembrandt owned several of his paintings.

There were also sixteenth-century drinking vessels in this hall.

After hall #3, halls 4 to 6, were about the 17th century; the age of Rembrandt, born in Leiden.

This June 2019 Dutch video shows a visit by a distant relative of Rembrandt to the reconstructed Lakenhal, to see the Rembrandt paintings there.

This June 2019 Dutch video shows a visit to a glasses shop, to talk about Rembrandt’s painting, present in the Lakenhal, The salesman of spectacles.

This is the other Rembrandt now present in the Lakenhal: a painting about history; we don’t know exactly what history. Behind the sceptre of the depicted king, Rembrandt, then twenty years old, made an inconspicuous self-portrait.

After the exhibition halls about the seventeenth century, there was a corridor with art by Jan Wolkers. Wolkers (1925-2007) is famous as an author, sculptor and painter. In this corridor, there was one small figurative sculpure, depicting Leda and the swan; and abstract reliefs and paintings.

This October 2017 video is about the Lakenhal acquiring artworks by Jan Wolkers.

Lakenhal museum, reopening and photos

This 18 June 2019 video from Leiden in the Netherlands says about itself:

Museum De Lakenhal | A source of inspiration for everyone

Museum De Lakenhal will open its doors again on 20 June 2019. Following a thorough renovation and restoration, the museum is celebrating the return of the building to the public with a free opening festival from 20 to 23 June.

When the museum is reopened, the famous masterpieces such as ‘The Last Judgement’ (circa 1526-27) by Lucas van Leyden, ‘A Pedlar Selling Spectacles’ (circa 1624) by Rembrandt van Rijn and ‘Counter Composition VII’ (1924) by Theo van Doesburg will be on show in the old restored part of the museum, the ‘Laecken-Halle’. Two photo presentations are being exhibited in the new exhibition halls: still lifes of the restoration and expansion of the museum by Karin Borghouts and artist Marjan Teeuwen’s monumental Destroyed House (Leiden) projects.

This is a 2017-2019 time-lapse video of the reconstruction.

On 30 July 2019, we went to the re-opened museum.

In the first new exhibition hall, there was a seventeenth-century painting about how the Lakenhal looked then: not yet a museum, still a textile business building. But mostly photos by Karen Borghouts.

In this video, Belgian Ms Borghouts talks about how she made photos of the Lakenhal reconstruction from 2016 till 2019.

In the second new hall were photos by Marjan Teeuwen.

About destroyed houses in Amsterdam.

This video is about Marjan Teeuwen’s art about four buildings from about 1900 in Leiden, including a former porn shop, which had to be torn down for the new Lakenhal exhibition halls.

The third place of which Marjan Teeuwen photos showed destroyed buildings in this hall was Gaza.

This 1 January 2017 video says about itself:

Dutch artist Marjan Teeuwen used rubble to rebuild a house in the Gaza Strip. She transformed what was destroyed into an artistic installation.

This 2017 video is also about Ms Teeuwen’s work in Gaza.

Stay tuned, as there will be more on this blog on my Lakenhal visit!

Rembrandt, other painting exhibitions in Dutch Leiden

This 14 June 2019 Dutch video with English subtitles says about itself:

An eye for detail

[Art historian] Wieteke van Zeil gives tips to see more during your visit to Museum De Lakenhal.

From the site of Museum De Lakenhal in Leiden, the Netherlands:

Museum De Lakenhal presents: Rembrandt & the Dutch Golden Age

20 June 2019 – 3 October 2019

The galleries of Museum De Lakenhal exhibit leading works from the Golden Age of Leiden’s masters such as Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, Jan van Goyen, Jan Steen and the Leiden Fijnschilders (literally ‘fine painters’). This exhibition tells the story of Leiden and the flourishing artists who made it the birthplace of the Dutch Golden Age.

Leiden as birthplace of the Dutch Golden Age

Early 17th century Leiden was the workplace of diverse painters, each of which would prove to be of crucial significance to Dutch Golden Age art. The young Rembrandt and Jan Lievens worked closely together in their formative years as artists and during the time they spent in Leiden, they laid the foundations for an oeuvre that would be of global significance. From the outset, they presented themselves through their paintings and etchings as experimental and inquisitive artists. At the same time, Jan van Goyen and the maritime artist Jan Porcellis were developing as pioneers of Dutch landscape painting. Leiden also gained prominence through painters such as Jan Davidsz de Heem and David Bailly who focused on vanitas still lifes, which dealt with the concept of transience. The masterpieces of these great artists can be admired at the exhibition.

Rembrandt & Leiden’s Fijnschilders

Gerrit Dou was Rembrandt’s most important student. After leaving his mentor for Amsterdam in 1632, he concentrated on extremely finely detailed cabinet paintings. He was inspired by Rembrandt and developed into the founder of the Leidse Fijnschilders movement of artists, who, unlike Rembrandt and Vermeer, managed to acquire international renown during their lifetime. No collection of royal standing was complete without works by Fijnschilders such as Frans van Mieris, Pieter van Slingelandt or Godfried Schalcken. The collection of Fijnschilders at Museum De Lakenhal has recently grown into one of the most important of its kind.

Earliest known works of Rembrandt in the spotlight

The earliest known works of Rembrandt, including A Peddler Selling Spectacles (ca. 1624) and History Painting (1626) are at the heart of the exhibition. A Peddler Selling Spectacles is part of a series portraying the five senses which Rembrandt painted when he was about seventeen. Although Rembrandt is clearly experimenting with technique and perspective, this painting is a sign of the attention to the chiaroscuro and virtuosity of brushstrokes that we would see in Rembrandt’s later works for which he would become famous. History Painting (1626) is an early example of how Rembrandt portrays himself in a painting. In collaboration with the Rijksmuseum, the History Painting has been restored in the Amsterdam museum’s studio, bringing Rembrandt’s colour palette back to its original glory.

Late Golden Age

Leiden paintings of the late Golden Age are characterised by their expressive realism in conjunction with their classical dignity. The most significant representatives of the incipient movement are the Leiden-based painter Jan Steen and the sculptor Pieter Xavery. Their work, which is full of playful humour and folksy caricature, still enjoys huge popularity among a wide public. Like Rembrandt, Jan Steen had the habit of including self-portraits in his paintings. Presumably inspired by Rembrandt. The exhibition shows of Jan Steen’s works in which he incorporates his self-portrait: a self-portrait of the painter with his wife entitled Couple Reading the Bible (ca. 1650) and The robbed violonist (ca. 1670-72). Jan Steen was never shied away from portraying himself as a salt-of-the-earth caricature, as shown here as a violin player who is being robbed.

Year Of Rembrandt & the Dutch Golden Age

In 2019 the 350th anniversary of Rembrandt van Rijn’s death will be honoured with numerous events which will be held in The Hague, Leiden, Leeuwarden, Amsterdam and other places. Experience the Netherlands in the era of Rembrandt and the Dutch Golden Age through the special exhibitions being held at venues such as Museum De Lakenhal, the Fries Museum, The Mauritshuis, The Rembrandt House Museum, Amsterdam City Archives (Stadsarchief Amsterdam) and the Rijksmuseum.

Centuries-old trees in Leiden botanical garden

This 15 May 2019 video, in Dutch with English subtitles, is about centuries-old trees in Leiden botanical garden in the Netherlands.

Wildlife crime against plants, video

This 20 Febuary 2019 video from Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden in the Netherlands says about itself:

Wildlife crime fighters, episode 4: Pills

Wildlife crime fighter Barbara Gravendeel studies traditional medicines! At Naturalis Science we help out Schiphol Airport, to monitor what medicines are made of. Spoiler: endangered plants and animals. Learn more in the fourth and last episode of our series regarding wildlife crime.

Botanical garden birds and leaves

On 4 November 2018, we went to the botanical garden in Leiden. Where we saw this moss.

A jay flying.

Six ring-necked parakeets flying.

We went to the Japanese garden part.

Where we saw this grass.

And these beautiful downy Japanese maple autumn leaves.

Among these leaves, samara fruits.

As we passed the pond, a grey heron caught a quite big carp.

Starling flock feeding on ivy

This 22 November 2018 video shows a flock of starlings, feeding on ivy fruits.

Barthel Brussee made this video in his backyard in Leiden city in the Netherlands.

Leiden botanical garden video

This 27 September 2018 video from the Netherlands says about itself:

Autumn has started! In the Netherlands it’s time to plant the flower bulbs in the garden. Ever since the beginning of the Hortus botanicus Leiden we have cultivated unusual species of bulbs. In the olden days the rarer bulbs (like tulips) were grown in a fenced part of the Clusius Garden.

Nowadays our bulb collection has become so extensive and complex that we devoted a new part of the garden to cultivate, and a special glasshouse to display the crown jewels of our bulb collection. Together with researchers of Universiteit Leiden / Leiden University Naturalis Wageningen University & Research we are doing research into the endangered European orchids. Head of glass houses Rogier van Vugt explains why in this video.

Plants of Science Park, Leiden

This 2 August 2018 video is about the Science Park, Leiden, the Netherlands.

Marco Roos tells about special plant species growing there.

Dutch language, English subtitles.