Since 1968, Schwartz has been living in a village with palpable connections in space and time to large reaches of northern Europe and its past. Here he illustrates and captions them.
Continue reading “426 Nine south-north routes through Maarssen”
History
385 The Dutchness of English art
In the second half of the seventeenth century, Dutch artists swarmed all over Europe in search of earnings that were drying up at home. They virtually annexed the art scene of Great Britain, giving shape to much of what we think of as English culture. Schwartz’s view of British Baroque.
365 Life as we know it
For seventy years, Schwartz has been aware that he, with the rest of humanity, is in grave danger of being wiped out. He takes account of the record and reveals his solution to the most immediate threat.
351 The emotional turn
That strong emotions have irresistible power over us is undeniable. What can be denied, or ignored, is the all-pervasive influence of even low-grade emotion on society and its members. The Australian Research Council (ARC) is funding a project to investigate the effects of emotion on European life in the second millennium. Schwartz brings back a progress report on emotion in art. Continue reading “351 The emotional turn”
330 Frederik Hendrik gets the hots
When P.J. Blok, one of the leading Dutch historians of the first half of the twentieth century, came across a dirty remark in a letter by a leading seventeenth-century personality of the House of Orange, he simply left it out of his transcription. Schwartz digs up the shocking source. Continue reading “330 Frederik Hendrik gets the hots”
307 The deferred 20th-century demise of the ancien régime
In 2014 the world will begin to mark the centenaries of the First World War and its attendant effects. These include the end of the age-old Central European dynasties. However, the end of the dynasties began earlier, in 1910, one hundred years ago this week, in unexpected places. As far as Schwartz is concerned, the celebrations can start right now. Continue reading “307 The deferred 20th-century demise of the ancien régime”
304 De-accessioned
A fascinating and important painting on which Schwartz wrote a long article in the J. Paul Getty Museum Yearbook in 1983 was sold at auction by the museum in 2007. Schwartz worries about whether the art museums of the world take themselves sufficiently seriously as custodians of artistic heritage. Continue reading “304 De-accessioned”
229 The glory of Maarssen Station
Over the course of the years, Schwartz’s pleasure in taking the train from his local station in Maarssen has declined drastically. However, the station has risen immeasurably in his esteem now that he knows that it was here, in June 1845, that the Doppler effect was first demonstrated experimentally. In his new enthusiasm, he launches a plan to commemorate that event in art whenever a train passes the station. Continue reading “229 The glory of Maarssen Station”