Serious art can be a lot of fun. The National Gallery opens a small exhibit entitled Hendrick Avercamp: The Little Ice Age on March 21, 2010. This is the first exhibition dedicated to Dutch landscape artist Hendrick Avercamp, whose works depict ice skating, sleigh rides and the frozen games of kolf (a precursor to our modern game of golf).
Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr., the National Gallery’s curator for Northern Baroque Paintings and professor at the University of Maryland, said that “Avercamp’s work is a celebration of winter.” Wheelock advises viewers to look carefully at the detailed paintings to understand the stories and vignettes contained in them. Avercamp’s paintings show all members of society. Lavishly dressed men and women, some playing golf, are watched almost wistfully buy a poor beggar. Skaters glide on the ice, but also are depicted falling down. A sled breaks through the ice and the artist shows the horse struggling to right himself and community members rushing to help those on the sled before it sinks into the frigid water.
Bianca du Mortier, curator of costumes from the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, explained that “little is really known about Avercamp” apart from his art. He was born in Amsterdam in 1585, but moved to Kampen when he was only two years old. Avercamp studied art in Amsterdam but moved back to Kampen. He was known during his life by the politically incorrect term as the “mute of Kampen.” Art historians speculate that Avercamp may have been deaf as well as mute.
Whatever the extent of Avercamp’s disabilities, it is clear that the artist observed much and sought to portray both the joy and hardships in Dutch society. Avercamp began the “ice scene” genre.
Children and adults who love puzzles will enjoy searching for Hendrick Avercamp’s signature in his paintings and drawings. Avercamp was fond of hiding his signature. Look carefully at his work and you will find his initials or signature—but never the date—hidden in a sled or scratched discretely in some other portion of his complex paintings, sometimes more than once.
The exhibit will run through July 5, 2010. The National Gallery of Art is located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue, NW. The museum is open from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Saturday and from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm on Sunday.
No comments:
Post a Comment