INTRODUCTION TO GUP #7 – DUTCH MASTERS

INTRODUCTION TO GUP #7 - DUTCH MASTERS

CREDITS

GUP Author

PETER BAS MENSINK, ROY KAHMANN, JOCHEM RIJLAARSDAM

Portraits, interiors, landscapes. Three genres that gave Dutch painters their name and fame. Their refined technique, use of light and perspective, and the attention to detail turned Rembrandt, Hals, Vermeer, Van Ruisdael and Steen into Dutch Masters. Portraits, interiors and landscapes also provide photography with a rich source of inspiration and a rewarding scope for working. So now is the time for a Dutch Masters issue, with many pages allotted to masterpieces by Dutch photographers working in the Netherlands or abroad. Such as the flawless portraits of a growing-up daughter, which Hendrik Kerstens made here, or the amateur-football field landscapes that Hans van der Meer photographed on his travels through Europe. The interiors in Finnish Karelia show that photographer Marrigje de Maar has something in common with Vermeer. Natural light plays an important role in both oeuvres. There is no doubt that photography is becoming increasingly important in our daily lives. Visual culture is encroaching on ever more areas, touching us in new and different ways. We saw this in the many entries that were sent in for the CUP competition, which we organised for the first time (winners shown in this issue). It’s interesting to see what intrigues people enough to try and capture it in a photo. This was already quite clear for Frits Gierstberg, when he composed the Dutch Dare exhibition in Sydney to commemorate four hundred years of Dutch-Australian relations.

So what exactly does Dutch realism depict in a contemporary context? Solid works, made in Holland.