Piet Mondrian (1872-1944)


This pioneer and icon of the abstract art world is noted for his geometric paintings of lines and boxes using mostly primary colors. These simplistic cubist works, some consisting of as little as three horizontal or vertical black lines on a white background, influenced many abstractionists. My best friends in Holland have done their entire apartment Mondrian style with the bright colors everywhere. Mondrian cabinets, refrigerator, chairs, desk, coffee mugs, etc., etc. Sorta reminds me of a preschool. Unlike Bosch, Mondrian is highly regarded in Holland, perhaps reflecting the Dutch penchant for orderliness, cleanliness, and simplicity. Mondrian’s last, unfinished painting,

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Hieronymous Bosch (1450-1516)

Buy The Garden of Earthly Delights , Hell, 1504 (right wing detail) at AllPosters.com
The Garden of Earthly Delights , Hell, 1504 (right wing detail)
Buy The Garden of Earthly Delights , Hell, 1504 (right wing detail) at AllPosters.com
The Garden of Earthly Delights , Hell, 1504 (right wing detail)
Buy The Garden of Earthly Delights, 1504 at AllPosters.com
The Garden of Earthly Delights, 1504

For some strange reason (which I’ll try to fathom), Hieronymous Bosch is not so highly regarded in his homeland. In fact a visit to the Rijksmuseum in search of one single Bosch painting is an exercise in futility. I recently visited the museum’s excellent website, and alas, he is left off the list of hundreds of Dutch artists! This flemish painter whose magnificient yet eeire landscapes filled with bizarre creatures, horrific demons and blasphemies (Garden of Earthly Delights) influenced many artists including the surrealists, is almost a non-entity in Holland. My guess is his religious themed works didn’t play too well during the golden age, when the Dutch were pursuing pleasure, not piousness. Bosch’s hellish message of paying grotesquely for sins in one’s lifetime was probably as much a turnoff to the existential Dutch (then and now) as the Spanish Inquisition was during it’s heyday in Holland.

Perhaps another reason is that much of his work has been spirited off to Spain and France, hanging in the Louvre and Prado museums. It seems the Catholic countries can better appreciate the evils of sin and the price to be paid in hell.

Update: I recently got to see the excellent Bosch exhibition at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, in Rotterdam and learned that his paintings were so prized that they were taken as war booty and thus were spirited out of Holland and ended up in the museums above and others around the world. The exhibit was marvelous but crowded, which contrary to my earlier statement shows that the Dutch DO appreciate Bosch after all!


Hieronymus Bosch
(Masters of Art)
by Carl Linfert

Vincent Van Gogh

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Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear
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Cafe Terrace
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Van Gogh’s Bedroom At Arles
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Sunflowers, 1888
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The Starry Night, 1889
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Irises

New Book!

Van Gogh Face to Face:
The Portraits
Without a doubt the most famous Dutchman these days is Vincent Van Gogh. He’s so popular it seems no one can get enough of him, including the Dutch, who pay homage to him by painting walls and kiosks in his style. This famous painter whose short life was full of much self-inflicted misery is one of the best known and loved artists of all time. He lived in Holland and France and painted brilliantly colored landscapes of both and portraits of their people. Holland has several great collections of his work in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and the Kroller Muller Museum.

Lust for Life
by Irving Stone
Famous biography of Van Gogh made into a movie.