#peasant woman bruising flax

[artesie]

Vincent van Gogh. 1889. Peasant Woman Binding Sheaves / Peasant Woman Bruising Flax. In exhibiton in Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Photo by Jean Carlo Emer.

[salehiafamasterdam-blog]

Day 1

Despite my abhorrent jet-lag, my first day in Amsterdam began at the early hour of 5am. I decided to go on a run around Vondelpark. The new environment was somehow exactly what I expected of a park in the Netherlands. With its countless streams and large meadows and ponds all amidst lush green trees and fauna, it perfectly resembled some of the landscapes of Rembrandt. Vondelpark is big and teaming with people participating in all kinds of activities. A man skips bubbles onto one of the large ponds for paying onlookers. Hotdogs and refreshments are sold throughout the park/ Locals can be seen partaking in a game of badminton or chatting with friends over lunch. Seeing all of this made me realize how truly different parks in the Netherlands are from the homeless sheltering parks of the United States.

When we met for class this morning to walk to our lecture hall, I was surprised to discover that it will be held in an old catholic church. Toon described to us how this particular church is a product of the reformation of the 16th Century. Its exterior blends in perfectly with its neighbors, identified as a local parish only by the stork that would have been above its doors. It’s interior resembles that of any reformerd church of the time period. Conservative and reserved throughout, save for an ornate Roman Catholic altar. 

Visiting the Van Gouge Museum was a fascinating experience. I have always been a massive fan of Van Gouges work, so when I heard we would be visiting this museum on the first day I was ecstatic. Seeing the slight changes in style and form in his self-portraits was illuminating on how his personal life affected how he perceived himself. I was also totally unaware of how much Japanese art had influenced Van Gouge style and expression. Paintings like the “Flowering Plum Tree” and “Bridge in the Rain” are direct imitations of Japanese paintings. After learning of this interest of his, I began to look for certain Japanese motifs in Van Gouge’s later works. I recognized how he would paint directly related scenes on separate canvases, as was the case of the trio “The Sheepshearer”, “Peasant Woman Bruising Flax”, and “The Reaper”. My favorite painting of his, “Almond Blossom”, is a clear homage to classic Japanese art style, with its subject matter, flat styling, and highly stylized and detailed brushstrokes. 

After the Van Gouge Museum, It was time for the canal tour. By this time in the day, I was strongly feeling the effects of jet-lag. Even with my waning energy level, the tour was quite interesting. I noticed how truly unique and uniform the classic Dutch architecture is and that most of the newly painted buildings were curiously either black or dark blue. I wondered if this is perhaps a regulation from the local government.