Life does not always go as planned
... one just have to adapt
Quote of the week
“No idea is so outlandish that is should not be considered.”
Winston Churchill
Hello,
If you have followed me on other media you know that we had planned to go to Greece with our camper van. Actually, we should already have been on the way. Life does not always go as planned and we had to revise our travel plans. Health issues came in the way. Nothing serious, but they have to be taken care of.
I took a flight back to Sweden on Wednesday. This is the first time since February 2020, since I have flown. It just reminded me that I don’t like to fly. I flew Innsbruck - Amsterdam - Copenhagen. Both the flight from Innsbruck and from Amsterdam were delayed, so arrived rather late in the evening. So many people everywhere. I am not used to this, having been rather isolated during the pandemic. Furthermore, it seems people cough and sneeze all the time. Or is it just that we are more sensitive now and notice it more?
The morning in Innsbruck was nice though. We took a walk in the old town and sat down at a café for breakfast. While strolling around after breakfast we found three young guys playing the violin, performing in the street. They were so professional and played so well, we stayed on for over half an hour. They played classical music, many of the famous works. When they played one of my absolute, favourite pieces, Dmitri Shostakovich’s The Second Waltz, I got tears in my eyes. I wanted to add a small video but am not able to include it here.
Mauritshuis
As I mentioned last week we visited the art museum in Den Haag. It is a museum that combines three of my interests; history, art and books. The building itself is beautiful. The museum celebrates its 200 anniversary this year, and was wonderfully decorated with flowers (artificial ones though).
History - the museum was built in the 17th century as the residence of Johan Maurits of Nassau-Siegen (1604-1679) a nephew of William of Orange. He was called “the Brazilian” due to his fruitful period as governor of Dutch Brazil. This was the first time, both me and Martin had heard the term Dutch Brazil. Turns out that is was a Dutch colony in the NE part of modern-day Brazil which they controlled from 1630-54. They lost it to the Portuguese and it was formally ceded to Portugal through the Treaty of Hague in 1661. Maurits time there was full of conflict with Spain and Portugal during the colonisation, and he was very successful as governor. Times changed and he could not stay on and returned to Europe in 1644, where he continued his successful military career. A modern day look at history and colonisation, makes him into a controversial person, especially as he played a big role in slave trade, where likely his immense fortune came from.
Art - the museum houses arts mainly from the Dutch Golden Age paintings. There is no other age much better than that. Here we can see works by Johannes Vermeer, Rembrandt van Rijn, Jan Steen, Paulus Potter, Frans Hals, Jacob van Ruisdael, Hans Holbein the Younger, and others. The paintings are fantastic and well displayed in the various sized rooms of the house. My favourite? Well, for me the great master is Johannes Vermeer. There are a few of his paintings here, but I think most of them are spread in museums around the world. In the Vermeer museum in Delft you can see copies, as well as information about his life. There is not so much known by him, and, like Van Gogh, he did not sell a lot of paintings during his life time. One of his paintings, The Little Street, where he painted a house and people performing their every day cores. The painting has been analysed by Franz Gruzenhout. It is quite an interesting book with his research into which house it was and where it was situated. The book also gives a good insight into the times of Vermeer (my review under link above). Below Vermeer’s wonderful View of Delft. Just look at the light.
Books - you might wonder what books have to do with an art museum. I have found that you can connect books to a lot of things in life. In this museum there are two paintings which have been used as cover for books. The most famous is of course Vermeer’s The Girl With a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier. If you have not read the book you might have seen the film with Scarlet Johanson and Colin Firth. Chevalier has woven a story about the girl in the painting. I don’t think it is Vermeer’s best painting, but, like Mona Lisa, it has captured the viewers attention. Probably because her face and eyes, her clothing and the pearl earring speaks to you. The girl looks straight at you, as if she wants to tell you something. Quite fascinating indeed. I always think of the story of the book when I see the painting these days.
The other painting is The Goldfinch by Carel Fabritius (1622-54) which was used for the cover of Donna Tartt’s book with the same name. He was a pupil of Rembrandt and the only one who developed a style of his own. Unfortunately, he died very young. I have not yet read the book, but will one day.
Books
I had some errands to do today and just could not resist going into the book shop to check out new books. My intention was not to buy anything, but I left with three books in my bag. One of them is part of a subscription. You pay 40€ (these days just a little bit less in US dollars), you have access to 55 books (both Swedish and translated) and during one year you can borrow one book at the time, and keep the last one. It is always interesting to read new books. The first book I took is called Kvinna sedd bakifrån (Woman Seen From Behind, my translation) by Danish author Jesper Wung-Sung. It is a historical fiction about Ida Ilsted och Vilhelm Hammershøi. The latter is a famous Danish interior and portrait painter. And, he is painting Ida.
I bought a vegan/vegetarian cookbook. It is a climate smart choice, and I don’t eat so much meat. It is so beautifully printed with glossy paper and the recipes laid out in a nice way, that I just had to have it. Tomorrow, I will make a cauliflower curry. Yummy.
Nordiska gudasagor by historian Katarina Harrison Lindbergh, is about the asa gods. So much into the Viking era now, so trying to read as much as I can about that time and their beliefs.
Until next week, take care and enjoy life.
Lisbeth
Links
I have two blogs; one (in English) where I write about books, and one (in Swedish) where I share my life and interests in books, history, travel and everything that makes life interesting. Links below for those who are interested in reading further.
If you want to leave a comment or discuss something you can also send me an e-mail to thecontentreadernewsletter(at)gmail.com