In the Footsteps of the Old Masters : The Myth of Golden Age Holland in 19 Th Century Art and Art Criticism

The author presents a broad phenomenon known under the term of «Hollandism» as present in the European culture. Investigating various areas of 19th century painting, art criticism and literature, the author explains interpretation clichés attached to the culture of the Golden Age (e.g. its bourgeois and Protestant character, its realism and its genre character), which are entrenched in art history. She also presents those aspects of northern Netherlandish painting in the 17th century which were contrary to this image and which made many artists seek the sources of modernité in the art of Rembrandt, Hals and Vermeer. The book offers an insight into the complex motivations and attitudes towards the artistic tradition not only of the great painters, but also of the little-known, almost forgotten imitators of the Dutch «Little Masters». Cover Contents Introduction I. The myth of Golden Age Holland in 19th century criticism and historiography I.1. Holland in the eyes of a traveller, a critic and a historian.Tourist clichés versus aesthetics I.2. The Night Watch – a painting and national history I.3. The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp and the modern laboratory II. “The Sunday of life” – the idyllic image of Holland in the Golden Age II.1. The bourgeois ethos: domestic tranquillity and pleasures of a burgher’s life II.2. The “moral geography” and the “light of Holland” II.3. A repository of the modern painter’s accessories III. The dark face of Janus. The disturbing aspect of Golden Age Holland III.1. Expressiveness of colour and light. Interpretations of the manner of Rembrandt and Hals III.2. Slaughtered Ox – the structure of flesh III.3. Around the body of Bathsheba – the “mud” and the light III.4. The Biblia humana. On portraying human misery III.5. Ruisdael the poet. Truth and fantasy: the landscape painter’s dilemmas III.6. A self-portrait by Rembrandt. The paradigm of a modern painter’s personality Conclusion Illustrations Bibliography Index The author presents a broad phenomenon known under the term of "Hollandism" as present in the European culture. Investigating various areas of 19th century painting, art criticism and literature, the author explains interpretation clichés attached to the culture of the Golden Age (e.g. its bourgeois and Protestant character, its realism and its genre character), which are entrenched in art history. She also presents those aspects of northern Netherlandish painting in the 17th century which were contrary to this image and which made many artists seek the sources of modernite in the art of Rembrandt, Hals and Vermeer. The book offers an insight into the complex motivations and attitudes towards the artistic tradition not only of the great painters, but also of the little-known, almost forgotten imitators of the Dutch "Little Masters." The author presents the phenomenon of 'Hollandism' in the 19th century painting, art criticism and literature. She discusses cliches attached to the culture of the Golden Age of Holland (e.g. its bourgeois and Protestant character, its realism and its genre character) and the modern aspects of northern Netherlandish painting of the 17th century. The author presents the phenomenon of ‘Hollandism’ in the 19th century painting, art criticism and literature. She discusses clichés attached to the culture of the Golden Age of Holland (e.g. its bourgeois and Protestant character, its realism and its genre character) and the modern aspects of northern Netherlandish painting of the 17th century.