1.
Museumplein
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The Museumplein is a public space in the Museumkwartier neighbourhood of the Amsterdam-Zuid borough in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Located at the Museumplein are three major museums – the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh Museum, and Stedelijk Museum – and the concert hall Concertgebouw, the area was originally a wax candle factory and marshy meadows. Construction began following the completion of the Rijksmuseum in 1885, with a plan based on the design of Pierre Cuypers. The area was the location of the International Colonial and Export Exhibition in 1883, the Museumplein was reconstructed after a design by the Swedish/Danish landscape architect Sven-Ingvar Andersson in 1999. It now includes underground parking spaces and an underground supermarket, in the winter, the pond can be transformed into an artificial ice skating area. The space is used for events such as festivals, celebrations. Museum Square 1891-2020 Museum District in Amsterdam
2.
Amsterdam
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Amsterdam is the capital and most populous municipality of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its status as the capital is mandated by the Constitution of the Netherlands, although it is not the seat of the government, which is The Hague. Amsterdam has a population of 851,373 within the city proper,1,351,587 in the urban area, the city is located in the province of North Holland in the west of the country. The metropolitan area comprises much of the part of the Randstad, one of the larger conurbations in Europe. Amsterdams name derives from Amstelredamme, indicative of the citys origin around a dam in the river Amstel, during that time, the city was the leading centre for finance and diamonds. In the 19th and 20th centuries the city expanded, and many new neighborhoods and suburbs were planned, the 17th-century canals of Amsterdam and the 19–20th century Defence Line of Amsterdam are on the UNESCO World Heritage List. As the commercial capital of the Netherlands and one of the top financial centres in Europe, Amsterdam is considered a world city by the Globalization. The city is also the capital of the Netherlands. Many large Dutch institutions have their headquarters there, and seven of the worlds 500 largest companies, including Philips and ING, are based in the city. In 2012, Amsterdam was ranked the second best city to live in by the Economist Intelligence Unit and 12th globally on quality of living for environment, the city was ranked 3rd in innovation by Australian innovation agency 2thinknow in their Innovation Cities Index 2009. The Amsterdam seaport to this day remains the second in the country, famous Amsterdam residents include the diarist Anne Frank, artists Rembrandt van Rijn and Vincent van Gogh, and philosopher Baruch Spinoza. The Amsterdam Stock Exchange, the oldest stock exchange in the world, is located in the city center. After the floods of 1170 and 1173, locals near the river Amstel built a bridge over the river, the earliest recorded use of that name is in a document dated October 27,1275, which exempted inhabitants of the village from paying bridge tolls to Count Floris V. This allowed the inhabitants of the village of Aemstelredamme to travel freely through the County of Holland, paying no tolls at bridges, locks, the certificate describes the inhabitants as homines manentes apud Amestelledamme. By 1327, the name had developed into Aemsterdam, Amsterdam is much younger than Dutch cities such as Nijmegen, Rotterdam, and Utrecht. In October 2008, historical geographer Chris de Bont suggested that the land around Amsterdam was being reclaimed as early as the late 10th century. This does not necessarily mean there was already a settlement then, since reclamation of land may not have been for farming—it may have been for peat. Amsterdam was granted city rights in either 1300 or 1306, from the 14th century on, Amsterdam flourished, largely from trade with the Hanseatic League
3.
Netherlands
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The Netherlands, also informally known as Holland is the main constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It is a densely populated country located in Western Europe with three territories in the Caribbean. The European part of the Netherlands borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing borders with Belgium, the United Kingdom. The three largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague, Amsterdam is the countrys capital, while The Hague holds the Dutch seat of parliament and government. The port of Rotterdam is the worlds largest port outside East-Asia, the name Holland is used informally to refer to the whole of the country of the Netherlands. Netherlands literally means lower countries, influenced by its low land and flat geography, most of the areas below sea level are artificial. Since the late 16th century, large areas have been reclaimed from the sea and lakes, with a population density of 412 people per km2 –507 if water is excluded – the Netherlands is classified as a very densely populated country. Only Bangladesh, South Korea, and Taiwan have both a population and higher population density. Nevertheless, the Netherlands is the worlds second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products and this is partly due to the fertility of the soil and the mild climate. In 2001, it became the worlds first country to legalise same-sex marriage, the Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G-10, NATO, OECD and WTO, as well as being a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. The first four are situated in The Hague, as is the EUs criminal intelligence agency Europol and this has led to the city being dubbed the worlds legal capital. The country also ranks second highest in the worlds 2016 Press Freedom Index, the Netherlands has a market-based mixed economy, ranking 17th of 177 countries according to the Index of Economic Freedom. It had the thirteenth-highest per capita income in the world in 2013 according to the International Monetary Fund, in 2013, the United Nations World Happiness Report ranked the Netherlands as the seventh-happiest country in the world, reflecting its high quality of life. The Netherlands also ranks joint second highest in the Inequality-adjusted Human Development Index, the region called Low Countries and the country of the Netherlands have the same toponymy. Place names with Neder, Nieder, Nether and Nedre and Bas or Inferior are in use in all over Europe. They are sometimes used in a relation to a higher ground that consecutively is indicated as Upper, Boven, Oben. In the case of the Low Countries / the Netherlands the geographical location of the region has been more or less downstream. The geographical location of the region, however, changed over time tremendously
4.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
5.
Art museum
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An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art. Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection, the term is used for both public galleries, which are non-profit or publicly owned museums that display selected collections of art. On the other hand, private galleries refers to the commercial enterprises for the sale of art, however, both types of gallery may host traveling exhibits or temporary exhibitions including art borrowed from elsewhere. In broad terms, in North American usage, the word gallery alone often implies a private gallery, the term contemporary art gallery refers usually to a privately owned for-profit commercial gallery. These galleries are found clustered together in large urban centers. Smaller cities are home to at least one gallery, but they may also be found in towns or villages. Contemporary art galleries are open to the general public without charge, however. They usually profit by taking a portion of art sales, from 25% to 50% is typical, there are also many non-profit or collective galleries. Some galleries in cities like Tokyo charge the artists a flat rate per day, curators often create group shows that say something about a certain theme, trend in art, or group of associated artists. Galleries sometimes choose to represent artists exclusively, giving them the opportunity to show regularly, a gallerys definition can also include the artist cooperative or artist-run space, which often operates as a space with a more democratic mission and selection process. A vanity gallery is an art gallery that charges fees from artists in order to show their work, the shows are not legitimately curated and will frequently or usually include as many artists as possible. Most art professionals are able to identify them on an artists resume, University art museums and galleries constitute collections of art that are developed, owned, and maintained by all kinds of schools, community colleges, colleges, and universities. This phenomenon exists in both the West and East, making it a global practice, although largely overlooked, there are over 700 university art museums in America alone. This number, in comparison to other kinds of art museums, throughout history, large and expensive works of art have generally been commissioned by religious institutions and monarchs and been displayed in temples, churches, and palaces. Although these collections of art were private, they were made available for viewing for a portion of the public. In classical times, religious institutions began to function as a form of art gallery. Wealthy Roman collectors of engraved gems and other precious objects often donated their collections to temples and it is unclear how easy it was in practice for the public to view these items. At the Palace of Versailles, entrance was restricted to wearing the proper apparel – the appropriate accessories could be hired from shops outside
6.
Trams in Amsterdam
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The Amsterdam Tram is a tram network in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The network dates back to 1875, since 1943, it has been operated by municipal public transport operator GVB, which also runs the Amsterdam metro and the city bus and ferry services. The Amsterdam Tram is the largest tram network in the Netherlands, the trams on the network run on standard gauge track. Since 1900, they have been powered by electricity, at 600 V DC, at the terminus station of almost every tram route is a turning loop, so that the route can be operated by unidirectional trams. The only exception is Amstelveen Binnenhof, one of the termini of route 5, as of 2016, there are 14 tram routes. The network comprises a total of 80.5 kilometres of route, the fleet consists of 200 trams, of which 24 are bidirectional for use on the loop-less route 5. On 3 June 1875, Amsterdams first horse-drawn tramway was opened and it linked Plantage with the Leidseplein, and was operated by AOM, which had been founded in 1872 by Karel Herman Schadd, amongst others. By the end of the century, about 15 routes led to or from the Vondelstraat, Overtoom, Willemsparkweg, Amsteldijk, Linnaeusstraat, Weesperzijde, Bilderdijkstraat and Ceintuurbaan. The routes of the horse tram lines can still clearly be recognised in the present day tram routes 1,2,3,4,7,9,10 and 13. As of 1 January 1900, the municipality of Amsterdam took over AOM, the company continued as the Gemeentetram Amsterdam. A total of 242 tramcars,758 horses and 15 buildings were acquired along with the company, between 1900 and 1906, all but one of the existing tram lines were electrified. Additionally, the AOMs unusual track gauge of 1,422 mm was converted to 1,435 mm standard gauge, by 1906, the electric tram network consisted of 12 tram routes. To operate these routes, the GTA purchased 229 new electric tramcars, the former horse-drawn trams were progressively reclassified as tram trailers. In 1906, the Amsterdamse Tramharmonie orchestra was founded and this orchestra, composed of amateur musicians from the Amsterdam region, still exists. The last remaining Amsterdam horse tramway was route 12, which was electrified in 1916, five years later, upon Amsterdams annexation of the municipality of Sloten, a former Sloten horse tramway came under the control of the GTA. The horses of this route, which linked Overtoom with Sloten, were replaced by tram-hauling buses in 1922, between 1910 and 1930, the growth of the city generated many new extensions to the tram routes. In 1931, the network reached its greatest extent, at 25 tram routes. From that year to 1940, all the districts in the city could be reached by tram, between 1900 and 1930, the fleet grew to 445 motorised trams and approximately 350 trailers
7.
Vincent van Gogh
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Vincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade he created about 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings and his suicide at 37 followed years of mental illness and poverty. Born into a family, Van Gogh drew as a child and was serious, quiet. As a young man he worked as an art dealer, often travelling and he turned to religion, and spent time as a Protestant missionary in southern Belgium. He drifted in ill health and solitude before taking up painting in 1881 and his younger brother Theo supported him financially, and the two kept up a long correspondence by letter. His early works, mostly still lifes and depictions of peasant labourers, in 1886 he moved to Paris, where he met members of the avant-garde, including Émile Bernard and Paul Gauguin, who were reacting against the Impressionist sensibility. As his work developed he created a new approach to still lifes and his paintings grew brighter in colour as he developed a style that became fully realised during his stay in Arles in the south of France in 1888. During this period he broadened his subject matter to include trees, cypresses, wheat fields. Van Gogh suffered from episodes and delusions and though he worried about his mental stability, he often neglected his physical health, did not eat properly. His friendship with Gauguin ended after a confrontation with a razor and he spent time in psychiatric hospitals, including a period at Saint-Rémy. After he discharged himself and moved to the Auberge Ravoux in Auvers-sur-Oise near Paris and his depression continued and on 27 July 1890, Van Gogh shot himself in the chest with a revolver. He died from his injuries two days later, Van Gogh was unsuccessful during his lifetime, and was considered a madman and a failure. He became famous after his suicide, and exists in the imagination as the quintessential misunderstood genius. His reputation began to grow in the early 20th century as elements of his style came to be incorporated by the Fauves. The most comprehensive source on Van Gogh is the correspondence between him and his younger brother, Theo. Their lifelong friendship, and most of what is known of Vincents thoughts, Theo van Gogh was an art dealer and provided his brother with financial and emotional support, and access to influential people on the contemporary art scene. Theo kept all of Vincents letters to him, Vincent kept few of the letters he received, after both had died, Theos widow Johanna arranged for the publication of some of their letters. A few appeared in 1906 and 1913, the majority were published in 1914, Vincents letters are eloquent and expressive and have been described as having a diary-like intimacy, and read in parts like autobiography
8.
Amsterdam-Zuid
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Amsterdam-Zuid is a borough of Amsterdam, Netherlands. The borough was formed in 2010 as a merger of the former boroughs Oud-Zuid, the borough has almost 138,000 inhabitants. With 8,500 homes per square kilometer, it is one of the most densely populated boroughs of Amsterdam and it has the highest income per household of all boroughs in Amsterdam. Amsterdam-Zuid is the borough of Amsterdam situated to the south and southwest of the Singelgracht canal, the Singelgracht canal had been Amsterdams city border since the 17th century, when the Amsterdam canal belt was constructed. The taking down of the surrounding the Singelgracht, the outer canal. South of the wall, the first neighborhoods to develop were the Oude Pijp neighborhood, the neighborhood surrounding the Rijksmuseum. This area is now known as Oud Zuid. In 1917, the area was further developed southwards on the basis of Plan Zuid, berlages plan included wide streets lined with four-story apartment blocks for the middle class. The plan also included public art to be installed in the new residential areas, between 1920 and 1940, the Plan Zuid neighborhoods of Nieuwe Pijp, Diamantbuurt, Rivierenbuurt, Stadionbuurt and Apollobuurt were constructed, with many buildings designed in Amsterdam School style. This area is known as Nieuw Zuid. Another neighborhood built in the 1920s is the Hoofddorppleinbuurt, west of the Schinkel river and this neighborhood is part of Plan West, another urban expansion plan by Berlage which was designed for the western area of the city on the territory of the former municipality of Sloten. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Buitenveldert neighborhood and the smaller Prinses Irenebuurt became the last major developments in the southern part of the city. In 1961, the Amsterdam RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre opened, the A10 motorway, which runs through the southern borough, was constructed in 1962. In 1978, the first section of the Weesp–Leiden railway and the Amsterdam Zuid railway station opened along the part of the A10 motorway. In the 1990s and 2000s, the surrounding the railway station became the rapidly developing business district of Zuidas. Since the 2014 municipal elections, the councils have been abolished and replaced by smaller. The district committees are elected every four years, on the day as the citys central municipal council. Each district committee elects three of its members to form an executive committee, the district committees jurisdiction is determined by the central municipal council
9.
Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
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The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, colloquially known as the Stedelijk, is a museum for modern art, contemporary art, and design located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The 19th century building was designed by Adriaan Willem Weissman and the 21st century wing with the current entrance was designed by Benthem Crouwel Architects. It is located at the Museum Square in the borough Amsterdam South, where it is close to the Van Gogh Museum, the Rijksmuseum, the collection comprises modern and contemporary art and design from the early 20th century up to the 21st century. In 2015, the museum had an estimated 675,000 visitors, the Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, opened on 14 September 1895 as an initiative of the local authority and private individuals. The Dutch Neo-Renaissance style museum building was designed by Dutch architect Adriaan Willem Weissman as part of a project spearheaded by local citizens starting in 1850. The construction of the building was funded in 1890 by Sophia Adriana de Bruyn. The Van Eeghen family also contributed to the costs and donated paintings from the collection of Christiaan Pieter van Eeghen. The building was constructed between 1891 and 1895 at Paulus Potterstraat, a walking distance from the Rijksmuseum. The museums original collection included militaria of the Amsterdam militia, Asiatic art, and artifacts from the Museum of Chronometry, in 1905, Cornelis Baard was appointed curator of the Stedelijk and promoted to museum director in 1920. During his time as curator, the local authority began building its own collection of modern art, the Great Depression in the Netherlands led to municipal cutbacks and an increased need for policy reviews in the first half of the 1930s. In 1932, a committee was established with two members from the VVHK and two from the local authority. These four figures oversaw all art purchases for the museum, notably works of Hague and Amsterdam Impressionism, the museum began actively acquiring art in 1930. Nijkerks collection of books came to the Stedelijk, which was expanded to include aesthetic book design. The Museum of Applied Art opened on the floor of the west wing on 15 December 1934. In 1936, David Röell, who had worked at the Rijksmuseum and was secretary of the VVHK. Röell appointed Willem Sandberg as the new curator in January 1938, Sandberg eventually took over as director of the museum in 1945. By 1962, the VVHK handed over most of its collection, including works by George Hendrik Breitner, Paul Cézanne, Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Gustave Courbet, Vincent van Gogh, and Johan Jongkind. Under the direction of Sandberg, the Stedelijk started a department of applied art in 1945, at the start of 1950, the Stedelijk also began to present modern music and films
10.
Rijksmuseum
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The Rijksmuseum is a Dutch national museum dedicated to arts and history in Amsterdam. The museum is located at the Museum Square in the borough Amsterdam South, close to the Van Gogh Museum, the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, and the Concertgebouw. The Rijksmuseum was founded in The Hague in 1800 and moved to Amsterdam in 1808, the current main building was designed by Pierre Cuypers and first opened its doors in 1885. On 13 April 2013, after a renovation which cost €375 million. In 2013 and 2014, it was the most visited museum in the Netherlands with record numbers of 2.2 million and 2.47 million visitors and it is also the largest art museum in the country. The museum also has a small Asian collection, which is on display in the Asian pavilion, in 1795, the Batavian Republic was proclaimed. The Minister of Finance Isaac Gogel argued that a museum, following the French example of The Louvre. On 19 November 1798, the government decided to found the museum, on 31 May 1800, the National Art Gallery, precursor of the Rijksmuseum, opened its doors in Huis ten Bosch in The Hague. The museum exhibited around 200 paintings and historic objects from the collections of the Dutch stadtholders, in 1805, the National Art Gallery moved within The Hague to the Buitenhof. In 1806, the Kingdom of Holland was established by Napoleon Bonaparte, on the orders of king Louis Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon, the museum moved to Amsterdam in 1808. The paintings owned by city, such as The Night Watch by Rembrandt. In 1809, the museum opened its doors in the Royal Palace in Amsterdam, in 1817, the museum moved to the Trippenhuis. The Trippenhuis turned out to be unsuitable as a museum, in 1820, the historical objects were moved to the Mauritshuis in The Hague, and in 1838 the 19th-century paintings were moved to Paviljoen Welgelegen in Haarlem. In 1863, there was a design contest for a new building for the Rijksmuseum, Pierre Cuypers also participated in the contest and his submission reached the second place. In 1876 a new contest was held and this time Pierre Cuypers won, the design was a combination of gothic and renaissance elements. The construction began on 1 October 1876, on both the inside and the outside, the building was richly decorated with references to Dutch art history. Another contest was held for these decorations, the winners were B. van Hove and J. F. Vermeylen for the sculptures, G. Sturm for the tile tableaus and painting and W. F. Dixon for the stained glass. The museum was opened at its new location on 13 July 1885, in 1890 a new building was added a short distance to the south-west of the Rijksmuseum
11.
Concertgebouw
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The Royal Concertgebouw is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term concertgebouw literally translates into English as concert building, on 11 April 2013, on occasion of the buildings 125th anniversary, Queen Beatrix bestowed the Royal Title Koninklijk upon the building, as she did previously to the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra. Because of its highly regarded acoustics, the Concertgebouw is considered one of the finest concert halls in the world, along with such as Bostons Symphony Hall. The architect of the building was Adolf Leonard van Gendt, who was inspired by the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, construction began in 1883 in a pasture that was then outside the city, in Nieuwer-Amstel, a municipality that in 1964 became Amstelveen. A total of 2,186 piles of length twelve to thirteen metres were sunk into the soil. The hall opened on 11 April 1888 with a concert, in which an orchestra of 120 musicians and a chorus of 500 singers participated, performing works of Wagner, Handel, Bach. The resident orchestra of the Concertgebouw is the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, for many decades the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra and the Radio Filharmonisch Orkest have also been regular performers in the Concertgebouw. The Main Hall seats 1,974, and is 44 metres long,28 metres wide and its reverberation time is 2.8 seconds without audience,2.2 seconds with, making it ideal for the late Romantic repertoire such as Mahler. Though this characteristic makes it unsuited for amplified music, groups such as Led Zeppelin, The Who. It hosts not only orchestral and operatic performances, but also jazz, a smaller, oval-shaped venue, the Recital Hall, is located behind the Main Hall. The Recital Hall is 20 metres long and 15 metres wide and its more intimate space is well-suited for chamber music and Lieder. The Recital Hall has 437 seats, when the Concertgebouw was built, acoustics were something of a black art. As in shipbuilding, designers drew upon what had worked in the past without entirely understanding the underlying science, when the building was completed, the acoustics were not perfect, and a lot of effort went into fine-tuning the aural ambience. During later restorations, particular care has been not to alter the materials used for interior decoration with this in mind. In the 1980s, the hall embarked on extensive fund-raising for renovations after the hall was found to be sinking into the ground. Pi de Bruijn was the architect for the annex to the original hall. Today, some nine hundred concerts and other events per year take place in the Concertgebouw, for a public of over 700,000, as of February 2014, the managing director of the Concertgebouw is Simon Reinink and the artistic director is Anneke Hogenstijn. The organ was built in 1890 by the organ builder Michael Maarschalkerweerd from Utrecht and it has 60 registers on three divisions and pedal
12.
Gerrit Rietveld
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Gerrit Thomas Rietveld was a Dutch furniture designer and architect. One of the members of the Dutch artistic movement called De Stijl, Rietveld is famous for his Red and Blue Chair and for the Rietveld Schröder House. Rietveld was born in Utrecht in 1888 as the son of a joiner and he left school at 11 to be apprenticed to his father and enrolled at night school before working as a draughtsman for C. J. Begeer, a jeweller in Utrecht, from 1906 to 1911. By the time he opened his own workshop in 1917. He afterwards set up in business as a cabinet-maker, Rietveld designed his famous Red and Blue Chair in 1917. Hoping that much of his furniture would eventually be mass-produced rather than handcrafted, the contacts that he made at De Stijl gave him the opportunity to exhibit abroad as well. In 1923, Walter Gropius invited Rietveld to exhibit at the Bauhaus and he built, the Rietveld Schröder House, in 1924, in close collaboration with the owner Truus Schröder-Schräder. The design seems like a realization of a Mondrian painting. The house has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000 and his involvement in the Schröder House exerted a strong influence on Truus daughter, Han Schröder, who became one of the first female architects in the Netherlands. Rietveld broke with De Stijl in 1928 and became associated with a more functionalist style of architecture, the same year he joined the Congrès Internationaux dArchitecture Moderne. From the late 1920s he was concerned with housing, inexpensive production methods, new materials. In 1927 he was experimenting with prefabricated concrete slabs, a very unusual material at that time. Rietveld designed the Zig-Zag Chair in 1934 and started the design of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, in 1951 Rietveld designed a retrospective exhibition about De Stijl which was held in Amsterdam, Venice and New York. Interest in his work revived as a result, due to irreparable damages caused by regular decay, it was once again rebuilt, this time with new materials, in 2010. In order to all these projects, in 1961 Rietveld set up a partnership with the architects Johan van Dillen and J. van Tricht built hundreds of homes. His work was neglected when rationalism came into vogue, but he benefited from a revival of the style of the 1920s thirty years later. Gerrit Rietvelds son Wim Rietveld also became an industrial designer. Rietveld had his first retrospective exhibition devoted to his work at the Centraal Museum, Utrecht
13.
Kisho Kurokawa
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Kisho Kurokawa was a leading Japanese architect and one of the founders of the Metabolist Movement. Born in Kanie, Aichi, Kurokawa studied architecture at Kyoto University and he then attended University of Tokyo, under the supervision of Kenzo Tange. Kurokawa received a degree in 1959. Kurokawa then went on to study for a doctorate of philosophy, Kisho Kurokawa was conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Architecture by Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia in 2002. With colleagues, he cofounded the Metabolist Movement in 1960, whose members were known as Metabolists and it was a radical Japanese avant-garde movement pursuing the merging and recycling of architecture styles within an Asian context. The movement was successful, peaking when its members received praise for the Takara Cotillion Beautillion at the Osaka World Expo 1970. The group was dismantled shortly thereafter, Kurokawa had a daughter, potter Kako Matsuura, and a son, renowned photographer Mikio, from his first marriage to his college classmate. His second marriage was to Ayako Wakao, an actress with some films in the 1950s and 1960s. Kurokawas younger brother works in design but has also cooperated with Kurokawa on some architecture projects. Kurokawa was the founder and president of Kisho Kurokawa Architect & Associates, the enterprises head office is in Tokyo with branch offices in Osaka, Nagoya, Astana, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing and Los Angeles. The company is registered with the Japanese government as a First Class Architects Office, although he had practiced the concept of sustainable and eco-minded architecture for four decades, Kisho Kurokawa became more adamant about environmental protection in his latter years. In 2007, he ran for governor of Tokyo and then for a seat in the House of Councillors in the Japanese House of Councillors election,2007, although not elected, Kisho Kurokawa successfully established the Green Party to help provide environmental protection. Also in 2007, Kurokawa created the structure of the Anaheim University Kisho Kurokawa Green Institute, Kurokawa wrote extensively on philosophy and architecture and lectured widely. He wrote that there are two traditions inherent in any culture, the visible and the invisible and his work, he claimed, carried the invisible tradition of Japan. In 1972, he received a grant from the Graham Foundation to deliver a lecture at the Museum of Science, looking at his architecture—particularly at metabolism—tradition may not appear to be present, but, underneath the hard skin of the surface, his work is indeed Japanese. Yet, Kurokawa’s architecture evolved from the Japanese tradition, and there is a Japanese aesthetic in the context of his work and his architecture focused on keeping traditional Japanese concepts invisible, especially materiality, impermanence, receptivity and detail. Kurokawa specifically referred to these four factors in his discussions of new wave Japanese Architecture and he died of heart failure on October 12,2007, he was 73. Kurokawa noted that, with the exception of Kyoto and Kanazawa, when Western cities are destroyed, brick and stone remained as proof of their past existence
14.
Johanna van Gogh-Bonger
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Johanna Gezina Jo van Gogh-Bonger was the wife of Theo van Gogh, art dealer, and the sister-in-law of the painter Vincent van Gogh and key player in the growth of Vincents fame. Johanna Gezina Bonger was born on 4 October 1862 in Amsterdam in the Netherlands and she was the fifth of seven children, the daughter of an insurance broker. The family was musical, holding evening performances of quartets, and she stayed some months in London, working in the library of the British Museum. From the age of seventeen she kept a diary, which was to become a source of much information about Vincent van Gogh. At this time she came under the influence of the non-conformist writer Multatuli. At the age of twenty-two she became a teacher of English at a school for girls at Elburg. About this time while in Amsterdam she was introduced by her brother Andries to Theo van Gogh, one of the Van Gogh sisters described her as smart and tender. Theo became preoccupied with Johanna, and the following year paid a visit to Amsterdam to declare his love, surprised and annoyed that a man she hardly knew should wish to marry her, she rejected him. However, she accepted his proposal the following year, and they were married in Amsterdam on 17 April 1889 and their son Vincent Willem, was born on 31 January 1890. Following Theos death in January 1891, Johanna was left a widow with her infant son to support and she was left with only an apartment in Paris filled with a few items of furniture and about 200 then valueless works of her brother-in-law Vincent. She had not kept her diary during her marriage, but resumed it, to earn extra income she translated short stories from French and English into Dutch. In 1905, to the evident disapproval of her family, she was one of the members of a womens socialist movement. It is schoolgirlish twaddle, nothing more, in August 1901, she married Johan Cohen Gosschalk, a Dutch painter who was born in Amsterdam. She was widowed again in 1912, in 1914, she moved Theos body from Utrecht to Auvers-sur-Oise and interred it next to Vincents grave. A sprig of ivy taken from the garden of Dr Paul Gachet carpets both graves to this day, after the death of Vincent and her husband, she worked assiduously on editing the brothers correspondence, producing the first volume in Dutch in 1914. She also played a key role in the growth of Vincents fame and she wrote a Van Gogh family history as well. Johanna van Gogh stayed in contact with Vincent van Goghs friend Eugène Boch to whom she offered the portrait of Eugene Boch in July 1891. She also stayed in touch with Émile Bernard, who helped her to promote Vincent van Goghs paintings, the legacy and renown of Vincent van Gogh the long-suffering artist began to spread in the years after his death, first in the Netherlands, and Germany and then throughout Europe
15.
Theo van Gogh (art dealer)
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Theodorus Theo van Gogh was a Dutch art dealer. He was the brother of Vincent van Gogh, and Theos unfailing financial and emotional support allowed his brother to devote himself entirely to painting. Theo died at the age of 33, six months after his brother died at the age of 37, Theodorus Theo van Gogh was born on 1 May 1857 in the village Groot-Zundert in the province of North Brabant, Netherlands. He was the son of Theodorus van Gogh and Anna Cornelia Carbentus and his elder brother was Vincent van Gogh, who later became a famous painter. Theo worked for years at the Dutch office of the Parisian art dealers Goupil & Cie in The Hague. Theo joined the Brussels office on 1 January 1873 as their youngest employee, after Theo was transferred to the London office, he moved to the office in The Hague, where he developed into a successful art dealer. By 1884, he was transferred to the Paris main office, starting in the winter of 1880–1881, he sent painting materials as well as monthly financial support to his brother and painter Vincent van Gogh, who was living back in the Netherlands. In Paris, Theo met Andries Bonger and his sister Johanna and he married Johanna in Amsterdam on 17 April 1889 and they moved to Paris. Their son Vincent Willem was born in Paris on 31 January 1890, on 8 June, the family visited Vincent, who was living near Paris in Auvers-sur-Oise. Vincent died in July 1890 at age 37, Theo suffered from dementia paralytica, an infection of the brain, and his health declined rapidly after Vincents death. Weak and unable to come to terms with Vincents absence, he died six months later at age 33 in Den Dolder, Theo admired his elder brother Vincent for his whole life. But communicating with him proved to be difficult, even before Vincent opted to follow his artistic vocation, the communication between both brothers suffered from diverging definitions of standards, and it was evidently Theo who kept on writing letters. Therefore, mostly Vincents answers survived and few of Theos, Theo was often concerned about Vincents mental condition and he was amongst the few who understood his brother. It is known that Theo helped Vincent to maintain his artist lifestyle by giving him money and he also helped Vincent pursue his life as an artist through his unwavering emotional support and love. The majority of Theo’s letters and communications with Vincent are filled with praise, Vincent would send Theo sketches and ideas for paintings, along with accounts of his day to day experiences, to the delight and eager attention of Theo. Theo was instrumental in the popularity of Impressionist artists such as Claude Monet and Edgar Degas by persuading his employers, Goupil & Cie, to exhibit and buy their works. In 1886, Theo invited Vincent to come and live with him in Paris, the two brothers maintained an intensive correspondence, with Theo often encouraging his depressed brother. Theo was one of the few people who Vincent could talk to, over three-quarters of the more than 800 letters Vincent wrote during his life were to Theo, including his first and his last letters
16.
Hermitage Amsterdam
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Hermitage Amsterdam is a branch museum of the Hermitage Museum of Saint Petersburg, Russia, located on the banks of the Amstel river in Amsterdam. The museum is located in the former Amstelhof, a classical style building from 1681, the dependency displayed small exhibitions in the adjacent Neerlandia Building from 24 February 2004 until the main museum opened on 19 June 2009. It is currently the largest satellite of the Hermitage Museum, with an area of 12,846 m2. The exhibition area covers 2,172 m2 and is contained within two large halls and smaller exhibition rooms. The remaining space holds lecture halls, offices and staff accommodations, the structure opened in 1682 as a retirement home for elderly women under the name Diaconie Oude Vrouwen Huys on the east bank of the river Amstel. Beginning in 1817, the facility housed both men and women, and was renamed Diaconie Oude Vrouwen- en Mannenhuis. The building was first named Amstelhof in 1953, in the 1990s, operators of the facility determined that it was inadequate to meet the modern needs of its residents and sought to build a new structure elsewhere. They offered the structure to the city of Amsterdam, who, in turn. The last inhabitants left the Amstelhof in 2007, on 20 June 2009, the museum was opened by Dutch Queen Beatrix and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. The museum was open to the public the following day, during the more than 300 years that residents were housed in the Amstelhof, several renovations took place on the building interior and wings were added to provide needed space. Thus, little of the interior remained when work for the museum began. While some areas were restored to their appearance, many existing walls were removed. The total cost of the renovations was €40 million, the temporary museum in the Neerlandia Building on the Nieuwe Keizersgracht closed in 2008 to become the Hermitage for Children. It opened along with the museum on 20 June 2009. The museum houses two permanent presentations, one describes Netherlands–Russia relations and the details the history of the Amstelhof building. Temporary exhibitions usually are scheduled for six-months, the Immortal Alexander the Great The Myth, The Truth, His Journey, His Legacy,18 September 2010 –18 March 2011. Alexander the Great appeals to the more than any ruler of the ancient age. Beginning in his youth he inspired those around him, during his campaigns in the East, Alexander searched for the origins of Dionysus, whom the ancient Greeks believed came from the exotic East, possibly India
17.
Sunset at Montmajour
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Sunset at Montmajour is a landscape in oils painted by the Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh on July 4,1888. It was painted while the artist was at Arles, France, the painting is 73.3 cm ×93.3 cm and was on display from 24 September 2013 until 12 January 2014 as part of an exhibition at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Its authenticity was questioned several times before it was confirmed as a genuine van Gogh work in 2013 and it is the first full-sized painting by Van Gogh to be newly confirmed since 1928. The painting was inventoried among Theo van Goghs collection of his brothers works in 1890 and it was sold in 1901, after which there is no enduring record of its ownership or provenance. The painting seemingly became lost though it was purchased shortly thereafter, in 1908 a Norwegian industrialist, Christian Nicolai Mustad, who believed it to be the work of van Gogh, purchased and displayed the painting at his home. According to Mustads family, the French ambassador to Sweden, while a guest at Mustads home, at that time Mustad took it down from display. The painting remained stored in his attic until Mustads death, when it reappeared as part of his estate. In the 1990s, the painting was shown to staff at the Van Gogh Museum, with the development of improved investigative techniques, however, in 2011 a two-year investigation was launched by the Van Gogh Museum to examine the possible authenticity of the painting. The painting was subjected to an investigation of style and materials. It was discovered to have painted in the same range of paints that appears in works by van Gogh at that period. It was romantic, it couldn’t be more so, à la Monticelli, the sun was pouring its very yellow rays over the bushes, and all the lines were beautiful, the whole scene had a charming nobility. You wouldn’t have been at all surprised to see knights and ladies suddenly appear, returning from hunting with hawks, the fields seemed purple, the distances blue. And I brought back a study of it too, but it was well below what I’d wished to do, on 9 September 2013, the Van Gogh Museum announced in a public unveiling of the painting, that the work had been confirmed as a painting by van Gogh. List of works by Vincent van Gogh Media related to Sunset at Montmajour at Wikimedia Commons
18.
The Potato Eaters
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The Potato Eaters is an oil painting by Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh painted in April 1885 in Nuenen, Netherlands. It is in the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and he worked on the painting from April 13 until the beginning of May, when it was mostly done except for minor changes which he made with a small brush later the same year. Van Gogh said he wanted to depict peasants as they really were, I wanted it to give the idea of a wholly different way of life from ours — civilized people. So I certainly don’t want everyone just to admire it or approve of it without knowing why, however, the work was criticized by his friend Anthon van Rappard soon after it was painted. Van Gogh made a lithograph of the composition The Potato Eaters before embarking on the painting proper and he sent impressions to his brother, and in a letter to a friend, wrote that he made the lithograph from memory in the space of a day. Van Gogh had first experimented with lithography in The Hague in 1882, though he appreciated small scale graphic work and was an enthusiastic collector of English engravings he worked relatively little in graphic mediums. No, in most cases the solidity and pith of the small is only obtained through much more study than is imagined by those who think lightly of the task of illustrating. Anyway, some paintings in their huge frames look very substantial, and from what you said about ‘Impressionism’, I’ve grasped that it’s something different from what I thought it was, but it’s still not entirely clear to me what one should understand by it. But for my part, I find so much in Israëls, for instance. Compositionally the two are similar, in both paintings the composition of the painting is centered by a figure whose back is turned to us. Thieves stole the early version of The Potato Eaters, the Weavers Interior, in April,1989, the thieves returned Weavers Interior in an attempt to gain a $2.5 million ransom. The police recovered the two on July 14,1989, no ransom was paid. On April 14,1991, the Vincent van Gogh National Museum was robbed of twenty major paintings including the version of The Potato Eaters. For unknown reasons, the abandoned the art 35 minutes after the robbery. ISBN 1-86046-859-4 De La Faille, Jacob Baart, the works of Vincent van Gogh. The Complete Van Gogh, Paintings, Drawings, Sketches, new York, NY, Harrison House/Harry N. Abrams Distributed by Crown Publishers, Random House. Naifeh, Steven and Smith, Gregory White
19.
Wheatfield with Crows
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Wheatfield with Crows is a July 1890 painting by Vincent van Gogh. It is commonly stated that this was van Goghs last painting, however, art historians are uncertain as to which painting was van Goghs last, as no clear historical records exist. The evidence of his letters suggests that Wheatfield with Crows was completed around 10 July and predates such paintings as Auvers Town Hall on 14 July 1890 and Daubignys Garden. Moreover, Jan Hulsker points out that a painting of harvested wheat, Field with Stacks of Wheat, the Van Gogh Museums Wheatfield with Crows was painted in July 1890, in the last weeks of van Gogh’s life. Many have claimed it as his last painting, while it is also possible Tree Roots, Wheat Field with Crows, made on a double-square canvas, depicts a dramatic, cloudy sky filled with crows over a wheat field. A sense of isolation is heightened by a path leading nowhere. The windswept wheat field fills two-thirds of the canvas, jules Michelet, one of van Goghs favorite authors, wrote of crows, They interest themselves in everything, and observe everything. Kathleen Erickson finds the painting as expressing sorrow and a sense of his life coming to an end. The crows are used by van Gogh as a symbol of death and rebirth, about 10 July 1890 van Gogh wrote to his brother Theo and his wife Jo Bonger, saying that he had painted another three large canvases at Auvers since visiting them in Paris on 6 July. Two of these are described as immense stretches of wheatfields under turbulent skies, thought to be Wheatfield under Clouded Sky and Wheatfield with Crows, and the third is Daubignys Garden. He wrote that he had made a point of expressing sadness, later adding extreme loneliness and these painting are all examples of van Goghs elongated double-square canvases, used exclusively by him in the last few weeks of his life, in June and July 1890. The painting is held in the collection of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, for other paintings of wheat fields by Van Gogh see Wheat Fields. For Joan Mitchells 1987 painting No Birds, a homage to Wheatfield with Crows, at Eternitys Gate, The Spiritual Vision of Vincent van Gogh,1998. ISBN 0-8028-4978-4 Walther, Ingo F. Metzger, Rainer
20.
Still life paintings by Vincent van Gogh (Paris)
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Still life paintings by Vincent van Gogh is the subject of many drawings, sketches and paintings by Vincent van Gogh in 1886 and 1887 after he moved to Paris from the Netherlands. While in Paris, Van Gogh transformed the subjects, color and he saw the work and met the founders and key artists of Impressionism, Pointillism and other movements and began incorporating what he learned into his work. Japanese art, Ukiyo-e, and woodblock prints also influenced his approach to composition, There was a gradual change from the somber mood of his work in the Netherlands to a far more varied and expressive approach as he began introducing brighter color into his work. He painted many still life paintings of flowers, experimenting with color, light, by 1887 his work incorporated several elements of modern art as he began to approach his mature oeuvre. Another example are the Blue Vases paintings made in 1887 that incorporate both color and technique improvements that result in uplifting, colorful paintings of flowers, with the spring of 1887 Van Gogh left the city proper for a visit to Asnières with his friend Émile Bernard. While there his work was further transformed stylistically and through the use of bright, contrasting color, see his works from Asnières and Seine. From 1880 to 1885 Van Gogh began working as an artist in earnest and he was influenced not only by the great Dutch masters but also to a considerable extent by his cousin-in-law Anton Mauve a Dutch realist painter and a leading member of the Hague School. Van Goghs palette consisted mainly of earth tones, particularly dark brown. His brother Theo, an art dealer, commented that his work was too somber to be marketable and encouraged him to modern art, particularly Impressionism for its bright. In 1886, Van Gogh left the Netherlands and traveled to Paris to explore emerging artistic movements under the guidance and continued support of his brother Theo van Gogh, an art dealer. For four months, Van Gogh studied with Fernand Cormon, painting plaster casts, live nude models, There me met Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Émile Bernard, and Louis Anquetin. Through Theo and artistic social circles he also met Edgar Degas, Camille Pissarro, Paul Signac, Georges Seurat, through the fellowship with these men, he was introduced to Impressionists, Symbolists, Pointillists, and Japanese art, Ukiyo-e, and woodcut prints. In spite of his manner, disheveled clothes and often time frightening manner. So much so that when Toulouse-Lautrec heard disparaging remarks against Van Gogh, seeing and trading artwork with the Parisian avant-garde artists, Van Gogh understood what Theo had been trying to tell him for years about modern art. He was able to experiment with each of the movements to develop his own style, romanticism was an art and literature movement formed by people looking to escape the drab world. Its characteristics are paintings of exotic lands with grandiose feeling and intense color, Adolphe Joseph Thomas Monticelli developed a highly individual Romantic style of painting with richly colored, dappled, and textured painting and glazed surfaces. Vincent van Gogh, greatly admired his work after seeing it in Paris when he arrived there in 1886, Van Gogh was influenced by the richness that he perceived in Monticellis work. In 1890, Van Gogh and his brother Theo were instrumental in publishing the first book about Monticelli, the Impressionism movement was a change from traditional artistic techniques
21.
Art theft
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Art theft is usually for the purpose of resale or for ransom. Stolen art is used by criminals as collateral to secure loans. Only a small percentage of stolen art is recovered—estimates range from 5 to 10% and this means that little is known about the scope and characteristics of art theft. Many thieves are motivated by the fact that valuable art pieces are worth millions of dollars and weigh only a few kilograms at most. Transport for items such as paintings is also trivial, assuming the thief is willing to inflict damage to the painting by cutting it off the frame. Also, while most high-profile museums have extremely tight security, many places with art collections works have disproportionately poor security measures. That makes them susceptible to thefts that are more complicated than a typical smash-and-grab. Thieves sometimes target works based on their own familiarity with the artist and it is also difficult for the buyer to display the work to visitors without it being recognized as stolen, thus defeating much of the point of owning the art. Many famous works have instead been held for ransom from the owner or even returned without ransom. Returning for ransom also risks a sting operation, for those with substantial collections, such as the Marquess of Cholmondeley at Houghton Hall, the risk of theft is neither negligible nor negotiable. Jean-Baptiste Oudrys White Duck was stolen from the Cholmondeley collection at Houghton Hall in 1990, the Smithsonian Institution sponsors the National Conference on Cultural Property Protection, held annually in Washington, D. C. The conference is aimed at professionals in the field of property protection. Since 1996, the Netherlands-based Museum Security Network has disseminated news and information related to issues of property loss. Since its founding the Museum Security Network has collected and disseminated over 45,000 reports about incidents with cultural property, the founder of the Museum Security Network, Ton Cremers, is recipient of the National Conference on Cultural Property Protection Robert Burke Award. 2007 saw the foundation of the Association for Research into Crimes against Art, ARCA is a nonprofit think tank dedicated principally to raising the profile of art crime as an academic subject. Since 2009, ARCA has offered a postgraduate certificate program dedicated to this field of study. The Postgraduate Certificate Program in Art Crime and Cultural Heritage Protection is held from June to August every year in Italy, a few American universities, including New York University, also offer courses on art crime. Art and antiquity crime is tolerated, in part, because it is considered a victimless crime, the pan-European operation had begun in October,2016 and led to the recovery of about 3,500 stolen items including archaeological artifacts and other artwork
22.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
23.
Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuenen
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Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church at Nuenen is an early painting by Vincent van Gogh, made in early 1884 and modified in late 1885. The work was painted in Nuenen, a village in the North Brabant district of the Netherlands. Van Goghs father became the pastor of the Dutch Reformed Church in Nuenen in 1882, during this time, he made a number of paintings of the local peasants, including The Potato Eaters, and also paintings of the church. The oil on canvas painting measures 41.5 by 32 centimetres and it was made in January or February 1884, showing Van Goghs fathers small church, with hedge and bare trees. Van Gogh made the painting for his mother, while she was confined to her house with a broken leg. It held by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam but it was stolen on 7 December 2002 and it remained missing for over 13 years, until it was recovered by the Italian Guardia di Finanza at Castellammare di Stabia near Naples in January 2016, without its original frame
24.
View of the Sea at Scheveningen
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Beach at Scheveningen in Stormy Weather, also known as View of the Sea at Scheveningen, is an early oil painting by Vincent van Gogh, painted at Scheveningen near The Hague in August 1882. Van Gogh made his first paintings in December 1881, under the supervision of Anton Mauve and this work was made in Van Goghs second attempt at painting in August 1882. The painting shows the beach at Scheveningen, on the North Sea coast a few miles from The Hague, the painting was made quickly, en plein air, on an easel at the beach, with the wind whipping up sand and nearly blowing Van Gogh off his feet. He managed to scrape most of the sand off the thick wet painting. The painting is an Impressionist take on the grey-tinged seascapes of Hague School paintings such as Hendrik Mesdags 1881 Panorama of Scheveningen, the people are suggested by a few economical brushstrokes, and the breakers by thick lines of paint applied directly from the tube. The work measures 34.5 by 51 centimetres, along with many early other works, it was left behind in the attic when the family moved away in 1886, and it came into the possession of a carpenter, Adrianus Schrauwen. It was sold as part of a job lot of rubbish to the merchant J. C. Couvreur in 1902. It was bought by tobacco importer Gerlach Ribbius Peletier in 1903 for the price of 2,500 guilders. It was inherited by his daughter Liesbeth Ribbius Peletier, and she donated it to the state of the Netherlands on her death in 1989. It held by the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam since 1989 and it remained missing for over 13 years, until it was recovered by the Italian Guardia di Finanza at Castellammare di Stabia near Naples in January 2016, without its original frame. Its recovery was not announced until September 2016, and it was returned to the museum. Early works of Vincent van Gogh View of the Sea at Scheveningen, the Hague, Saturday,26 August 1882. Van Gogh Letters Avant-Gardes and Partisans Reviewed, Fred Orton, Griselda Pollock, p.14 The Passions of Vincent van Gogh, ione Mutchler, p.45 Stolen Van Goghs back on display after years in criminal underworld, BBC News,21 March 2017
25.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States, which simultaneously serves as the nations prime federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the U. S. Department of Justice, Intelligence Community and reports to both the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence. A leading U. S. counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal investigative organization, although many of the FBIs functions are unique, its activities in support of national security are comparable to those of the British MI5 and the Russian FSB. At an FBI field office, a senior-level FBI officer concurrently serves as the representative of the Director of National Intelligence. Despite its domestic focus, the FBI also maintains a significant international footprint and these overseas offices exist primarily for the purpose of coordination with foreign security services and do not usually conduct unilateral operations in the host countries. The FBI can and does at times carry out secret activities overseas, just as the CIA has a domestic function. The FBI was established in 1908 as the Bureau of Investigation and its name was changed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1935. The FBI headquarters is the J. Edgar Hoover Building, located in Washington, in the fiscal year 2012, the Bureaus total budget was approximately $8.12 billion. In 1896, the National Bureau of Criminal Identification was founded, the 1901 assassination of President William McKinley created an urgent perception that America was under threat from anarchists. The Departments of Justice and Labor had been keeping records on anarchists for years, the Justice Department had been tasked with the regulation of interstate commerce since 1887, though it lacked the staff to do so. It had made little effort to relieve its staff shortage until the breakage of the Oregon land fraud scandal at approximately the turn of the 20th Century, President Roosevelt instructed Attorney General Charles Bonaparte to organize an autonomous investigative service that would report only to the Attorney General. Bonaparte reached out to other agencies, including the Secret Service, for personnel, on May 27,1908, the Congress forbade this use of Treasury employees by the Justice Department, citing fears that the new agency would serve as a secret police department. Again at Roosevelts urging, Bonaparte moved to organize a formal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Investigation was created on July 26,1908, after the Congress had adjourned for the summer. Attorney General Bonaparte, using Department of Justice expense funds, hired thirty-four people, including veterans of the Secret Service. Its first Chief was Stanley Finch, Bonaparte notified the Congress of these actions in December 1908. The bureaus first official task was visiting and making surveys of the houses of prostitution in preparation for enforcing the White Slave Traffic Act, or Mann Act, in 1932, the bureau was renamed the United States Bureau of Investigation. The following year it was linked to the Bureau of Prohibition, in the same year, its name was officially changed from the Division of Investigation to the present-day Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI. J. Edgar Hoover served as Director from 1924 to 1972, a combined 48 years with the BOI, DOI, Hoover was substantially involved in most major cases and projects that the FBI handled during his tenure
26.
Guardia di Finanza
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The Guardia di Finanza is an Italian law enforcement agency under the authority of the Minister of Economy and Finance. It is a police force, forming a part of the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Guardia di Finanza is essentially responsible for dealing with crime and smuggling. It maintains over 600 boats and ships and more than 100 aircraft to serve in its mission of patrolling Italys territorial waters. The mission and institutional tasks of Guardia di Finanza are stated in the law 189 of April 23,1959 and 68/2001 and are subdivided into priority ones and contribution ones. The origins of the Guardia di Finanza date back to October 5,1774 and this was the first example in Italy of a special corps established and organized for financial surveillance duties along the borders, as well as for military defense. Once the unification of Italy was completed in 1862, the Customs Guards Corps was set up and its main task was Customs surveillance and co-participation in the Countrys defense during wartime. Subsequently, the Corps took part in rescue operations during serious natural disasters. The re-organization of the forces in 1919 also affected the Royal Guardia di Finanza. In 1923, the Investigative Tax Police was set up as a branch of the Royal Financial Guard. Besides the review of its structure, laid out by the issuance of Presidential Decree Law no.34 dated January 29,1999. The Guardia di Finanza Historical Museum is custodian of the traditions of the Corps and it preserves artifacts of relevance to the Guardia di Finanza and promotes historical research, to aid researchers, scholars and military history enthusiasts. In 2005, the Financial Guard was responsible for 77% of the Heroin seizures, 69% of Cocaine seizures and these later turned out to be counterfeit. Under the minister of finance and economy, the corps is commanded by a general commander, comando Aeronavale Central ´Aeronaval Operations Command, with one aeromaritime exploration group, and three aeronaval groups. Aviation Center Naval Center Source, Territorial commands Six interregional commands Regional commands, provincial commands, one for each of Italys provinces. The Guardia di Finanza utilises a rank similar to that of other state police forces in Italy. The Guardia di Finanza has around 68,000 members and its personnel are in service in the Europol and OLAF. Its Latin motto since 1933 has been Nec recisa recedit, there are 3,250 officers in the Guardia di Finanza
27.
Naples
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Naples is the capital of the Italian region Campania and the third-largest municipality in Italy, after Rome and Milan. In 2015, around 975,260 people lived within the administrative limits. The Metropolitan City of Naples had a population of 3,115,320, Naples is the 9th-most populous urban area in the European Union with a population of between 3 million and 3.7 million. About 4.4 million people live in the Naples metropolitan area, Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Bronze Age Greek settlements were established in the Naples area in the second millennium BC, a larger colony – initially known as Parthenope, Παρθενόπη – developed on the Island of Megaride around the ninth century BC, at the end of the Greek Dark Ages. Naples remained influential after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, thereafter, in union with Sicily, it became the capital of the Two Sicilies until the unification of Italy in 1861. Naples was the most-bombed Italian city during World War II, much of the citys 20th-century periphery was constructed under Benito Mussolinis fascist government, and during reconstruction efforts after World War II. The city has experienced significant economic growth in recent decades, and unemployment levels in the city, however, Naples still suffers from political and economic corruption, and unemployment levels remain high. Naples has the fourth-largest urban economy in Italy, after Milan, Rome and it is the worlds 103rd-richest city by purchasing power, with an estimated 2011 GDP of US$83.6 billion. The port of Naples is one of the most important in Europe, numerous major Italian companies, such as MSC Cruises Italy S. p. A, are headquartered in Naples. The city also hosts NATOs Allied Joint Force Command Naples, the SRM Institution for Economic Research, Naples is a full member of the Eurocities network of European cities. The city was selected to become the headquarters of the European institution ACP/UE and was named a City of Literature by UNESCOs Creative Cities Network, the Villa Rosebery, one of the three official residences of the President of Italy, is located in the citys Posillipo district. Naples historic city centre is the largest in Europe, covering 1,700 hectares and enclosing 27 centuries of history, Naples has long been a major cultural centre with a global sphere of influence, particularly during the Renaissance and Enlightenment eras. In the immediate vicinity of Naples are numerous culturally and historically significant sites, including the Palace of Caserta, culinarily, Naples is synonymous with pizza, which originated in the city. Neapolitan music has furthermore been highly influential, credited with the invention of the romantic guitar, according to CNN, the metro stop Toledo is the most beautiful in Europe and it won also the LEAF Award 2013 as Public building of the year. Naples is the Italian city with the highest number of accredited stars from the Michelin Guide, Naples sports scene is dominated by football and Serie A club S. S. C. Napoli, two-time Italian champions and winner of European trophies, who play at the San Paolo Stadium in the south-west of the city, the Phlegraean Fields around Naples has been inhabited since the Neolithic period. The earliest Greek settlements were established in the Naples area in the second millennium BC, sailors from the Greek island of Rhodes established a small commercial port called Parthenope on the island of Megaride in the ninth century BC
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Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
29.
Floor plan
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Dimensions are usually drawn between the walls to specify room sizes and wall lengths. Floor plans may also include details of fixtures like sinks, water heaters, furnaces, floor plans may include notes for construction to specify finishes, construction methods, or symbols for electrical items. Similar to a map the orientation of the view is downward from above, but unlike a conventional map, objects below this level are seen, objects at this level are shown cut in plan-section, and objects above this vertical position within the structure are omitted or shown dashed. Plan view or planform is defined as an orthographic projection of an object on a horizontal plane. The term may be used in general to any drawing showing the physical layout of objects. For example, it may denote the arrangement of the objects at an exhibition. Drawings are now reproduced using plotters and large format xerographic copiers and this convention maintains the same orientation of the floor and ceilings plans - looking down from above. RCPs are used by designers and architects to demonstrate lighting, visible mechanical features, a floor plan is not a top view or birds eye view. It is a drawing to scale of the layout of a floor in a building. A top view or birds eye view does not show an orthogonally projected plane cut at the typical 4 foot height above the floor level, a floor plan could show, Interior walls and hallways Restrooms Windows and doors Appliances such as stoves, refrigerators, water heater etc. In other words, a plan is a section viewed from the top, in such views, the portion of the object above the plane is omitted to reveal what lies beyond. In the case of a plan, the roof and upper portion of the walls may typically be omitted. Roof plans are orthographic projections, but they are not sections as their plane is outside of the object. A plan is a method of depicting the internal arrangement of a 3-dimensional object in two dimensions. It is often used in drawing and is traditionally crosshatched. The style of crosshatching indicates the type of material the section passes through, a 3D floor plan can be defined as a virtual model of a building floor plan. Its often used to better convey architectural plans to individuals not familiar with floor plans, despite the purpose of floor plans originally being to depict 3D layouts in a 2D manner, technological expansion has made rendering 3D models much more cost effective. 3D plans show a depth of image and are often complimented by 3D furniture in the room
30.
Storey
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A storey or story is any level part of a building that could be used by people. The plurals are storeys and stories respectively, the terms floor, level, or deck can also be used in this sense, except that one may use ground floor and ground level for the floor closer to what is considered the ground or street level. The words storey and floor also generally exclude levels of the building that have no roof, houses commonly have only one or two floors. Buildings are often classified as low-rise, mid-rise and high-rise according to how many levels they contain, the tallest skyscraper in the world, Burj Khalifa, has 163 floors. As of 2013, the tallest planned skyscraper, Sky City, is planned to have 202 floors, the height of each storey is based on the ceiling height of the rooms plus the thickness of the floors between each pane. Generally this is around 10 feet total, however, it varies widely from just under this figure to well over it, storeys within a building need not be all the same height — often the lobby is more spacious, for example. Additionally, higher levels may be smaller in volume than the ones beneath them, in English, the principal floor or main floor of a house is the floor that contains the chief apartments, it is usually the ground floor, or the floor above. In Italy the main floor of a home is usually above the ground level, the attic or loft is a storey just below the buildings roof, its ceiling is often pitched and/or at a different height than that of other floors. A penthouse is an apartment on the topmost storey of a building. A basement is a storey below the main or ground floor, split-level homes have floors that offset from each other by less than the height of a full storey. A mezzanine, in particular, is typically a floor halfway between the floor and the next higher floor. Homes with a split-level entry have the main floor raised half a storey height above the street entrance level. In Macys Herald Square, there is a one and a floor between the first and second, this can be considered a split level floor. There are also car parks, also known as parking garages. Floor numbering is the scheme used for a buildings floors. There are two major schemes in use across the world, in one system, used in the majority of European countries, the ground floor is the floor literally on the ground and often has no number or is assigned the number 0. Therefore, the floor up is assigned the number 1 and is the first floor. The other system, used primarily in the United States and Canada, counts the bottom floor as the first floor, the existence of two incompatible conventions is a common source of confusion in international communication, sometimes even between communities who speak the same language
31.
Coffeehouse
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A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment which primarily serves hot coffee, related coffee beverages, tea, and other hot beverages. Some coffeehouses also serve cold beverages such as iced coffee and iced tea, many cafés also serve some type of food, such as light snacks, muffins, or pastries. Coffeehouses range from owner-operated small businesses to multinational corporations. A coffeehouse may share some of the characteristics of a bar or restaurant. Many coffee houses in the Middle East and in West Asian immigrant districts in the Western world offer shisha, espresso bars are a type of coffeehouse that specializes in serving espresso and espresso-based drinks. Since the development of Wi-Fi, coffeehouses with this capability have also become places for patrons to access the Internet on their laptops, a coffeehouse can serve as an informal club for its regular members. As early as the 1950s Beatnik era and the 1960s folk music scene, coffeehouses have hosted singer-songwriter performances, coffeehouses in Mecca became a concern as places for political gatherings to the imams, who banned them, as well as the drink, for Muslims between 1512 and 1524. In 1530, the first coffeehouse was opened in Damascus and not long there were many coffeehouses in Cairo. About that year, a fellow called Hakam from Aleppo and a wag called Shams from Damascus came to the city, they opened a large shop in the district called Tahtakale. Various legends involving the introduction of coffee to Istanbul at a Kiva Han in the late 15th century circulate in culinary tradition, resembling checkers, hopscotch, and chess, are played. In addition, mollas, dervishes, and poets take turns telling stories in verse or in prose, the narrations by the mollas and the dervishes are moral lessons, like our sermons, but it is not considered scandalous not to pay attention to them. No one is forced to give up his game or his conversation because of it. It often happens that two or three people talk at the time, one on one side, the other on the opposite, and sometimes one will be a preacher. The most common English spelling, café, is the French, Portuguese and Spanish spelling, thus the spelling cafe has become very common in English-language usage throughout the world, especially for the less formal, i. e. greasy spoon variety. The Italian spelling, caffè, is sometimes used in English. In southern England, especially around London in the 1950s, the French pronunciation was often altered to /ˈkæf/. The English words coffee and café both descend from the Italian word for coffee, caffè—first attested as caveé in Venice in 1570— and in turn derived from the Arabic qahuwa. The Arabic term qahuwa originally referred to a type of wine but after the ban by Mohammed
32.
Conservation-restoration of cultural heritage
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The conservation-restoration of cultural heritage focuses on protection and care of tangible cultural heritage, including artworks, architecture, archaeology, and museum collections. Conservation activities include preventive conservation, examination, documentation, research, treatment and this field is closely allied with conservation science, curators and registrars. Conservation of cultural heritage can be described as a type of ethical stewardship, Conservation of cultural heritage applies simple ethical guidelines, Minimal intervention, Appropriate materials and reversible methods, Full documentation of all work undertaken. Often there are compromises between preserving appearance, maintaining original design and material properties, and ability to reverse changes, reversibility is now emphasized so as to reduce problems with future treatment, investigation, and use. The care of cultural heritage has a history, one that was primarily aimed at fixing and mending objects for their continued use. Until the early 20th century, artists were normally the ones called upon to repair damaged artworks, louis Pasteur carried out scientific analysis on paint as well. The society was founded by William Morris and Philip Webb, both of whom were influenced by the writings of John Ruskin. He not only developed an approach to the care of objects in the collections. The early development of conservation of heritage in any area of the world is usually linked to the creation of positions for chemists within museums. Lauries interests were fostered by William Holman Hunt, the creation of this department moved the focus for the development of conservation theory and practice from Germany to Britain, and made the latter a prime force in this fledgling field. In the United States, the development of conservation of heritage can be traced to the Fogg Art Museum. Importantly he also brought onto the staff chemists. Rutherford John Gettens was the first of usch in the US to be employed by an art museum. He worked with George L. Stout, the founder and first editor of Technical Studies, Gettens and Stout co-authored Painting Materials, A Short Encyclopaedia in 1942, reprinted in 1966. This compendium is still cited regularly, only a few dates and descriptions in Gettens and Stouts book are now outdated. George T. Oliver, of Oliver Brothers Art Restoration and Art Conservation-Boston invented the vacuum hot table for relining paintings in 1920s, taylors prototype table, which he designed and constructed, is still in operation. Oliver Brothers is believed to be the first and the oldest continuously operating art restoration company in the United States, the focus of conservation development then accelerated in Britain and America, and it was in Britain that the first International Conservation Organisations developed. Art historians and theorists such as Cesare Brandi have also played a significant role in developing conservation science theory, in recent years ethical concerns have been at the forefront of developments in conservation
33.
The Yellow House
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The Yellow House, alternatively named The Street, is an 1888 oil painting by the 19th-century Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh. This title refers to the wing of the 2 Place Lamartine, Arles, France. He occupied two large ones on the floor to serve as an atelier and kitchen, and on the first floor. The window on the first floor near the corner with both shutters open is that of Van Goghs guest room, where Paul Gauguin lived for nine weeks from late October 1888, behind the next window, with one shutter closed, is Van Goghs bedroom. The two small rooms at the rear were rented by Van Gogh at a later time, Van Gogh indicated that the restaurant, where he used to have his meals, was in the building painted pink close to the left edge of the painting. It was run by Widow Venissac, who was also Van Goghs landlady, to the right side of the Yellow House, the Avenue Montmajour runs down to the two railway bridges. The first line, with a train just passing, served the local connection to Lunel, the other line was owned by the P. -L. -M. Railway Company In the foreground to the left, there is an indication of the corner of the pedestrian walk, which surrounded one of the public gardens on Place Lamartine. The ditch running up Avenue Montmajour from the left towards the bridges served the gas pipe, the building was severely damaged in a bombing raid by the Allies on June 25,1944, and was later demolished. The painting was executed in September 1888, at which time Van Gogh sent a sketch of the composition to his brother Theo, also a sketch of a 30 square canvas representing the house and its setting under a sulphur sun under a pure cobalt sky. But that is exactly why I want to conquer it, because it is fantastic, these yellow houses in the sun and also the incomparable freshness of the blue. All the ground is yellow too, I will soon send you a better drawing of it than this sketch out of my head. The house on the left is yellow with green shutters and its the one that is shaded by a tree. This is the restaurant where I go to every day. My friend the factor is at the end of the street on the left, the night café that I painted is not in the picture, it is on the left of the restaurant. Initially, Van Gogh titled the painting as The House and its environment, later he opted for a more meaningful title and called it The Street, paying homage to a suite of sketches showing streets in Paris, by Jean-François Raffaëlli, and recently published in Le Figaro. This painting never left the artists estate, since 1962, it has been in the possession of the Vincent van Gogh Foundation, established by Vincent Willem van Gogh, the artists nephew, and on permanent loan to the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. The Yellow House itself no longer exists and it was severely damaged in bombing-raids during the Second World War, and later demolished
34.
Portraits of Vincent van Gogh
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This article refers to self portraits and portraits of Vincent van Gogh. It includes self-portraits, portraits of him by artists, and photographs. Van Goghs dozens of self-portraits were an important part of his oeuvre as a painter. Most probably, van Goghs self-portraits are depicting the face as it appeared in the mirror he used to reproduce his face, the first self-portrait by van Gogh that survived, is dated 1886. All the self-portraits executed in Saint-Rémy show the head from the left. No self-portraits were executed by van Gogh in Auvers-sur-Oise, during the weeks of his life. F208a, Self-Portrait with Dark Felt Hat is amongst the earliest of Vincents self-portraits and it was discovered late in the family collection and was not exhibited before 1945. Opinions differ about the date and place of its execution, de la Faille thought it painted in Antwerp before 1886, while Hulsker thought it painted in Paris in spring 1886. Hendriks and Tilborgh opt for autumn 1886, based on its resemblance to Vincents work that winter when he began to embrace Neo-impressionism, x-ray analysis reveals a nude figure study below. Since students did not work from the model at Antwerp. There is no work in Vincents oeuvre which complements this portrait. However Hendriks and Tilborgh are satisfied that the painting is consistent with others executed at the beginning, marc Edo Tralbaut, Vincents principal biographer, especially valorised the portrait, selecting it for the dust-jacket of his biography and stating that Vincent had laid himself bare for the portrait. Tralbaut notes that Vincent painted a number of self-portraits at this time and he was in poor health and his teeth were falling out, prompting him to grow a moustache to conceal them. At this time he was wearing city-clothes in an effort to stress his middle-class background as he strove to establish a career for himself as an artist. F627, This painting may have been van Goghs last self-portrait, f525, This painting may have been van Goghs last self-portrait, which he gave to his mother as a birthday gift. Van Gogh painted Self-Portrait without beard just after he had shaved himself, the painting can be seen in the third version of Bedroom in Arles at the Musée dOrsay. The self-portrait is one of the most expensive paintings of all time, at the time, it was the third most expensive painting ever sold. F476, Vincent van Gogh, Arles, gift, to Paul Gauguin, sold
35.
Sunflowers (Van Gogh series)
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Sunflowers are the subject of two series of still life paintings by the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh. The earlier series, executed in Paris in 1887, depicts the flowers lying on the ground, while the set, executed a year later in Arles. In the artists mind both sets were linked by the name of his friend Paul Gauguin, who acquired two of the Paris versions, Van Gogh was upset and replied that Gauguin had absolutely no right to make this request, I am definitely keeping my sunflowers in question. He has two of them already, let that hold him, so if he ever broaches this subject again, Ive told you just how matters stand. The two Sunflowers in question show two buttons each, one of them was preceded by a study, and a fourth large canvas combines both compositions. These were Van Goghs first paintings with nothing but sunflowers—yet, he had already included sunflowers in still life, leaving aside the first two versions, all Arlesian Sunflowers are painted on size 30 canvases. None meets the descriptions supplied by van Gogh himself in his announcement of the series in every detail. The first version differs in size, is painted on a size 20 canvas—not on a size 15 canvas as indicated—and all the others differ in the number of flowers depicted from van Goghs announcement. The second was evidently enlarged and the initial composition altered by insertion of the two flowers lying in the foreground, center and right, neither the third nor the fourth shows the dozen or 14 flowers indicated by the artist, but more—fifteen or sixteen. Both repetitions of the 4th version are no longer in their original state, in the Amsterdam version a strip of wood was added at the top—probably by van Gogh himself. The Tokyo version, however, was enlarged on all sides with strips of canvas, the series is perhaps van Goghs best known and most widely reproduced. In recent years there has been regarding the authenticity of one of the paintings. Most experts, however, conclude that the work is genuine, a definite hint for the arrangement of the triptych is supplied by Van Goghs sketch in a letter of July 1889. Later that year, Vincent selected both versions for his display at Les XX,1890, Van Gogh began painting in late summer 1888 and continued into the following year. One went to decorate his friend Paul Gauguins bedroom, the paintings show sunflowers in all stages of life, from full bloom to withering. The paintings were considered innovative for their use of the yellow spectrum, in a letter to Theo, Vincent wrote, Its a type of painting that changes its aspect a little, which grows in richness the more you look at it. Besides, you know that Gauguin likes them extraordinarily and he said to me about them, among other things, ‘that —. You know that Jeannin has the peony, Quost has the hollyhock, the price was over four times the previous record of about $12 million paid for Andrea Mantegnas Adoration of the Magi in 1985
36.
Almond Blossoms
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Almond Blossoms is from a group of several paintings made in 1888 and 1890 by Vincent van Gogh in Arles and Saint-Rémy, southern France of blossoming almond trees. Flowering trees were special to van Gogh and he enjoyed them aesthetically and found joy in painting flowering trees. The works reflect the influence of Impressionism, Divisionism, and Japanese woodcuts, Almond Blossom was made to celebrate the birth of his nephew and namesake, son of his brother Theo and sister-in-law Jo. In 1888 van Gogh became inspired in southern France and began the most productive period of his painting career, Arles, he said, was the Japan of the South. Here, he felt, the effect of the sun would strengthen the outlines of compositions. Pairs of complements—the red and green of the plants, the highlights of oranges and blue in the fence. When van Gogh arrived in Arles in March 1888 fruit trees in the orchards were about to bloom, the blossoms of the apricot, peach and plum trees motivated him, and within a month he had created fourteen paintings of blossoming fruit trees. Excited by the matter, van Gogh completed nearly one painting a day. Around April 21 he wrote to Theo, that he will have to something new. Van Goghs work reflected his interest in Japanese wood block prints, hiroshiges Plum Park in Kameido demonstrates portrayal of beautiful subject matter with flat patterns of colors and no shadow. Hiroshige was one of the last great masters of the Japanese genre called ukiyo-e, Van Gogh integrated some of the technical aspects of ukiyo-e into his work as his two 1887 homages to Hiroshige demonstrates. The southern region and the trees seems to awakened van Gogh from his doldrums into a state of clear direction, hyper-activity. He wrote, I am up to my ears in work for the trees are in blossom, while in the past a very active period would have drained him, this time he was invigorated. Vincent wrote to Theo, Down here it is freezing hard and there is snow in the countryside. The two studies are Blossoming Almond Branch in a Glass and Blossoming Almond Branch in a Glass with a Book, to reflect the early signs of spring, he used delicate brushstrokes and pastel shades for Blossoming Almond Branch in a Glass. A broken-off sprig is set in a simple glass, the sprig is highlighted by a red line along the beige wall and lavish empty space. There is no formal decorative intent, Van Goghs name, also in bright red, hovers above a sprig in the upper left as if a symbol of hope. Van Gogh has transformed the life with the help of these values
37.
Nuenen
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Nuenen is a town in the municipality of Nuenen, Gerwen en Nederwetten in the Netherlands. From 1883 to 1885, Vincent van Gogh lived and worked in Nuenen, in 1944, the town was a battle scene during Operation Market Garden. The local dialect is called Peellands, in 2009, Nuenen had a population of 22,437. Nuenen is listed in the 1792 Gazetteer of the Netherlands, which lists it as a village of Brabant, the British lost two tanks, and four American and three British soldiers were killed. The fight is dramatised in episode 4 Replacements of the television series Band of Brothers, in 1882 Van Goghs father became a pastor in Nuenen and the family lived at the vicarage there. After a stay in Drenthe for several months, Van Gogh moved to live with his parents in December 1883, Vincent van Gogh resided in Nuenen from 1883 to 1885. During that time he painted many studies of peasants and weavers that culminated in The Potato Eaters. This painting was stolen from the Van Gogh Museum in December 2002, there is a street named after it in the town, as well as a cafe, college and bar. A statue of Van Gogh is located in the park of the town. Theoretical computer scientist Edsger W. Dijkstra lived in Nuenen later in his life, the following year, the ACM PODC Influential Paper Award in distributed computing was renamed the Dijkstra Prize in his honour. Episode Four of TV World War II mini-series Band of Brothers is partly set in Nuenen, media related to Nuenen at Wikimedia Commons Nuenen travel guide from Wikivoyage
38.
Antwerp
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Antwerp is a city in Belgium, the capital of Antwerp province in the region of Flanders. With a population of 510,610, it is the most populous city proper in Belgium and its metropolitan area houses around 1,200,000 people, which is second behind Brussels. Antwerp is on the River Scheldt, linked to the North Sea by the Westerschelde estuary, the Port of Antwerp is one of the biggest in the world, ranking second in Europe and within the top 20 globally. Antwerp has long been an important city in the Low Countries, the inhabitants of Antwerp are nicknamed Sinjoren, after the Spanish honorific señor or French seigneur, lord, referring to the Spanish noblemen who ruled the city in the 17th century. The city hosted the 1920 Summer Olympics, according to folklore, notably celebrated by a statue in front of the town hall, the city got its name from a legend about a giant called Antigoon who lived near the Scheldt river. He exacted a toll from passing boatmen, and for those who refused, he severed one of their hands, eventually the giant was killed by a young hero named Silvius Brabo, who cut off the giants own hand and flung it into the river. Hence the name Antwerpen, from Dutch hand werpen, akin to Old English hand and wearpan, a longstanding theory is that the name originated in the Gallo-Roman period and comes from the Latin antverpia. Antverpia would come from Ante Verpia, indicating land that forms by deposition in the curve of a river. Note that the river Scheldt, before a period between 600 and 750, followed a different track. This must have coincided roughly with the current ringway south of the city, however, many historians think it unlikely that there was a large settlement which would be named Antverpia, but more something like an outpost with a river crossing. However, John Lothrop Motley argues, and so do a lot of Dutch etymologists and historians, aan t werp is also possible. This warp is a hill or a river deposit, high enough to remain dry at high tide. Another word for werp is pol hence polders, historical Antwerp allegedly had its origins in a Gallo-Roman vicus. Excavations carried out in the oldest section near the Scheldt, 1952–1961, produced pottery shards, the earliest mention of Antwerp dates from the 4th century. In the 4th century, Antwerp was first named, having been settled by the Germanic Franks, the name was reputed to have been derived from anda and werpum. The Merovingian Antwerp was evangelized by Saint Amand in the 7th century, at the end of the 10th century, the Scheldt became the boundary of the Holy Roman Empire. Antwerp became a margraviate in 980, by the German emperor Otto I, in the 11th century Godfrey of Bouillon was for some years known as the marquis of Antwerp. In the 12th century, Norbert of Xanten established a community of his Premonstratensian canons at St. Michaels Abbey at Caloes
39.
Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette
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Skull of a Skeleton with Burning Cigarette is an early work by Vincent van Gogh. The small and undated oil-on-canvas painting featuring a skeleton and cigarette is part of the permanent collection of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Van Gogh included skeletons in another work from his Antwerp period, a sketch of a Hanging skeleton and cat. In 1887–88, van Gogh painted two paintings with skulls, the only other works of his to use skulls as a motif. The work measures 32 by 24.5 centimetres and it is considered a vanitas or memento mori, at a time when Van Gogh himself in poor health. It may be influenced by works of Hercules Segers, a 17th-century Dutch artist, or of Félicien Rops, although often interpreted as a criticism of smoking, Van Gogh was a keen smoker himself, and continued to smoke until his death in 1890. In 2008, the painting was used by graphic designer Chip Kidd on the first edition cover for When You Are Engulfed in Flames, Sedaris is said to have been fascinated with the image after seeing it on a postcard during a trip to Amsterdam. The painting was held by Van Goghs brother Theo Van Gogh at the time of his death in 1891. It was inherited by his widow Johanna van Gogh-Bonger until her death in 1925, and then by their son Vincent Willem van Gogh until 1962, when it was acquired by the Van Gogh Foundation. It was on loan to the Stedelijk Museum from 1962 to 1973, head of a Skeleton with a Burning Cigarette,1886 at the Van Gogh Museum Media related to Skull with a burning cigarette by Vincent Van Gogh at Wikimedia Commons
40.
Paris
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Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
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View of Paris from Vincent's Room in the Rue Lepic
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View of Paris from Vincents Room in the Rue Lepic is a painting by Dutch post-impressionist artist Vincent van Gogh. Van Gogh lived with his brother in Montmartre, located above the city of Paris it afforded him a view of the Paris skyline. Two of the paintings were made in 1887, the second painting View from Vincents window was made from a similar vantage point to the titled painting View of Paris from Vincents Room in the Rue Lepic of this article. An earlier painting was made of the view from his window titled Roofs of Paris or View of Roofs, Van Gogh had become aware of Impressionism soon after arriving in Paris, but it took a while before he assimilated the knowledge into his work. This early view of his window reflects the colors he had been accustomed to using, subdued browns and grays for the roofs. In it Van Gogh appears to primarily in the color graduations of the houses and rooflines
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Arles
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Arles is a city and commune in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture, in the former province of Provence. A large part of the Camargue is located on the territory of the commune, the city has a long history, and was of considerable importance in the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis. The Roman and Romanesque Monuments of Arles were listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1981, the Dutch post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh lived in Arles from 1888 to 1889 and produced over 300 paintings and drawings during his time there. An international photography festival has held in the city since 1970. The river Rhône forks into two branches just upstream of Arles, forming the Camargue delta and its area is 758.93 km2, which is more than seven times the area of Paris. Arles has a Mediterranean climate with an annual temperature of 14.6 °C. The summers are warm and moderately dry, with averages between 22 °C and 24 °C, and mild winters with a mean temperature of about 7 °C. The city is constantly, but especially in the months, subject to the influence of the mistral. Rainfall is fairly evenly distributed from September to May, with the summer drought being less marked than in other Mediterranean areas, the Ligurians were in this area from about 800 BC. Later, Celtic influences have been discovered, the city became an important Phoenician trading port, before being taken by the Romans. The Romans took the town in 123 BC and expanded it into an important city, however, it struggled to escape the shadow of Massalia further along the coast. Its chance came when it sided with Julius Caesar against Pompey, Massalia backed Pompey, when Caesar emerged victorious, Massalia was stripped of its possessions, which were transferred to Arelate as a reward. The town was established as a colony for veterans of the Roman legion Legio VI Ferrata. Its full title as a colony was Colonia Iulia Paterna Arelatensium Sextanorum, Arelate was a city of considerable importance in the province of Gallia Narbonensis. It covered an area of some 99 acres and possessed a number of monuments, including an amphitheatre, triumphal arch, Roman circus, theatre, ancient Arles was closer to the sea than it is now and served as a major port. It also had the southernmost bridge on the Rhône, very unusually, the Roman bridge was not fixed but consisted of a pontoon-style bridge of boats, with towers and drawbridges at each end. The boats were secured in place by anchors and were tethered to twin towers built just upstream of the bridge and this unusual design was a way of coping with the rivers frequent violent floods, which would have made short work of a conventional bridge. Nothing remains of the Roman bridge, which has replaced by a more modern bridge near the same spot
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The Zouave
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The Zouave is the subject of two paintings made by Vincent van Gogh in Arles. Van Gogh was excited to have a model for a portrait, van Gogh described him as a boy, though he is portrayed as older, with a small face, large neck and intense eyes. A half-length portrait, Le Zouave, was made of the man with bright colors he called a savage combination of incongruous tones. The Zouaves uniform was blue with red-orange braids, a red cap and two stars on his chest, all placed against the background of a green door. Van Gogh was unsatisfied with the painting, he described it as ugly and unsuccessful and he made a further drawing, with which he was not particularly pleased, and a painting Le Zouave of the soldier against a white wall. Van Gogh, paintings and drawings, a loan exhibition, a fully digitized exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries
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Bedroom in Arles
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Bedroom in Arles is the title given to each of three similar paintings by 19th-century Dutch Post-Impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh. Van Goghs own title for this composition was simply The Bedroom, there are three authentic versions described in his letters, easily discernible from one another by the pictures on the wall to the right. The painting depicts van Goghs bedroom at 2, Place Lamartine in Arles, Bouches-du-Rhône, France and this room was not rectangular but trapezoid with an obtuse angle in the left hand corner of the front wall and an acute angle at the right. Well, I have thought that on watching the composition we stop thinking and imagining, I have painted the walls pale violet. The wooden bed and the chairs, yellow like fresh butter, the sheet, the washbasin, orangey, the tank, blue. There is not anything else in this room with closed shutters, the square pieces of furniture must express unswerving rest, also the portraits on the wall, the mirror, the bottle, and some costumes. The white colour has not been applied to the picture, so its frame will be white, I have depicted no type of shade or shadow, I have only applied simple plain colours, like those in crêpes. Van Gogh included sketches of the composition in this letter as well as in a letter to Gauguin, in the letter, van Gogh explained that the painting had come out of a sickness that left him bedridden for days. This version has on the wall to the miniatures of van Goghs portraits of his friends Eugène Boch. The portrait of Eugène Boch is called The Poet and the portrait of Paul Eugène Milliet is called The Lover. In April 1889, van Gogh sent the initial version to his brother regretting that it had been damaged by the flood of the Rhône while he was interned at the Old Hospital in Arles. Theo proposed to have it relined and sent back to him in order to copy it and this repetition in original scale was executed in September 1889. Both paintings were sent back to Theo. In summer,1889, Van Gogh finally decided to redo some of his best compositions in smaller size for his mother and sister Wil and these réductions, finished late in September 1889, are not exact copies. In The Bedroom the miniature portrait to the left recalls van Goghs Peasant of Zundert self-portrait, the one to the right cannot be linked convincingly to any existing painting by van Gogh. The first version never left the artists estate, since 1962, it is in the possession of the Vincent van Gogh Foundation, established by Vincent Willem van Gogh, the artists nephew, and on permanent loan to the Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam. The second version has, since 1926, been the possession of the Art Institute of Chicago as part of the Helen Birch Bartlett Memorial Collection. All three versions of the Bedroom were brought together for the very first time in North America, at the Art Institute of Chicago in 2016.432011
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