Sunday 4 August 2013

A cultural day within the joys of motherhood ....

I can say that meeting my husband over thirty-three years ago and thereby becoming a mum of three beautiful sons is a constant source of happiness.
I enjoyed every stage of my children as a mother and even now they are grown-up they still bring me great pleasure.
All three have different interest and my eldest son David is the most "cultural one" of the three.
Last Thursday we went together to Amsterdam and visited the (after nine years of restoration newly reopened) Rijksmuseum and I had a wonderful time ....

The entrance from the Museum Square with the famous cyclists tunnel....









After much debate between supporters and opponents the bicycle tunnel is (to the joy of many people) reopened twenty-four hours a day. I think this short impression (made by David) shows clearly why .... 






The beautiful garden around the museum ....














Me at the hall of fame (added this picture after being persuaded by David !) ....






With of course the famous picture of ....






The Night Watch






What struck me most, beyond all art, is the way all the murals were restored. They started making the original decorations visible again as early as 2006. At first they had to remove the old paint and plasters layers. The original layer was damaged and in many places even completely disappeared. To restore the cooperation was required of a restoration workshop by means of analysis samples of the original paint found through holes in the wall.This resulted in sixty new reproduced  Cuypers colours. And then they made the decorative painting on the basis of old drawings and black/white photo's ....






The application in the library made the biggest impression on me .....














The beautiful windows, new ....






and old ....






There is so much to see but here some "new" art added to the collection since the restoration ....



Sideboard (c.1933-1934) and diagonal seat (c.1929-1030) from Willem Hendrik Gispen ....






The Mondrian dress (c.1965) from Yves Saint Laurent 






And the famous chair (c.1919) from Gerrit Rietveld ....






In the (new) Asian Pavilion a beautiful bodhisattva (c.618-906) from the Tang dynasty  ....






And yes that's what you get on the road with an architecture student - the outside is also very interesting ....






I would say ....when you're in Amsterdam don't miss out this beautiful museum!
After our visit we walked through a very sunny (and hot) Amsterdam and ended our day on the 11th floor of the Hilton with a nice cool drink and magnificent view ....






After this day I realise even more how rich I am and count my blessings once again ....

Have a good week!
Anita xo

2 comments:

  1. Hello Anita, you are both rich and beautiful. I enjoyed seeing the picture of you, your hair is so pretty. The museum looks like a great place to visit. I love the new stripey stained glass windows, and enjoyed your son's video of the cycle tunnel.
    Many thanks for your lovely comments, I am glad that you enjoyed the photos of Ireland, I do hope you will come and visit. Wishing you a wonderful weekend, with love, Linda x

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  2. Oh I so enjoyed this post. Being an artist myself I would like to visit I have a son in college studying architecture too What a beautiful day you had.

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