Diving into Art in Delft

Delft Town Hall and Square

On one of my first trips to Europe, I visited Delft, a small town renowned for its art and painting – traditions that have been preserved since well before the 17^th Century.

Street Scene in Delft

Delft is famous as the birthplace of the talented master painter, Vermeer, and home to the production of the exquisite ‘Delft Blue’ earthenware.

The 2003 movie, The Girl with The Pearl Earring, was set in the town of Delft and based on a novel, of the same name, by Tracy Chevalier. There are reminders everywhere in Delft.

The Girl with the Golden Earring and other themed Delft ware

At the Delft factory, the Koninklijke Porceleyne Fles, I took the option of an English-speaking tour. This establishment dates back to 1653, (the Dutch Golden Age). The translations in English were noticeably shorter than the German or Dutch versions, so I can only assume words took longer to say in a different language!

All genuine articles of Delftware have the insignia you see on the header image, on the reverse side of the article. If it is missing, it won’t be a genuine Delft piece, but a cheap imitation – of which there are many.

Not only did I see the production process of a huge variety of magnificent Delft Blue antiques, (even in the ladies toilets where there is a massive mural in painted tiles), but I got to watch the Delft artists at work, painting new earthenware plates and vases.

Painting Delftware

It was interesting to note that prior to painting, the Delft artist traces the designated pattern onto the unfired ?Greenware in carbon, using strategically placed dots, made through holes in the tracing.  The designs are then painted with black paint, and the firing process burns off the carbon dots and changes the black paint to the familiar and beautiful Delft blue colour.

The artists who demonstrate Delft painting, in the public viewing room, only painted for 30 minutes at a time before swapping with other artists, to a private work area. Painting the lines accurately and precisely requires intense concentration. It’s difficult to maintain that level of concentration for any length of time, especially when you have interested tourists gawking at you.

Buying a Piece of Delftware

Heads up: If you’re looking to purchase a genuine Delft hand-painted souvenir, take plenty of money, as it’s very expensive.

There are various colours available too: even green!

The Netherlands’ vast legacy of decoration, both on earthenware and wooden art is a wonderful inspiration to contemporary artists.

Connections between Traditional Folk Art Styles

It is also noticeable to delve a little further back into history and examine the influences that facilitated the development of the many variants of Dutch folk art.

One rustic folk art style is called Hindelooper and was greatly influenced by the Norwegian decorative painting styles called Rosemaling.

Why?

Dutch Traders borrowed ideas they had seen on their travels and in turn, these new ideas and influences were absorbed back into parochial Dutch culture and art.

One example is the northern provinces of The Netherlands, where Frisian maritime villages traded far more with other Hanseatic trading towns, such as Bergen in Norway than their own countrymen in Amsterdam, resulting in the integration of the Scandinavian dialects and art concepts into their own culture.

Museum piece of Hindelooper Art

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Traditional Art in the Netherlands

Hindeloopen and lock house

Unless you are lucky enough to sail directly into the harbour, it may take several hours and more than a few changes of trains to reach the tiny Dutch village of Hindeloopen in the Northern Netherland’s province of Friesland.  

I alighted at the deserted railway station and felt a stab of disappointment as the town of Hindeloopen, itself, is not immediately visible from the railway station. To add to that, the only residents assigned to “meet and greet” tourists are some rather indulgent-looking cows! Not what I was expecting, at all.

After a twenty-minute walk carrying luggage with no wheels, (remember those times?), I reached the village of Hindeloopen proper and began a step back in time to the 16^th Century, where Hanseatic traders plied cobblestone streets and canals; where ol’ salty Sea Captains built iconic homes with gabled facades and decorated their interiors with elaborate folk art motifs, peculiar to the area.

History of Hindeloopen and Hindelooper Folk Art, Friesland

Ever since the 13th Century, the moorings in the harbour at Hindeloopen provided Norwegian and other Hanseatic traders with a safe haven from the rough weather in the ZuiderZee. All these foreign influences were gradually absorbed into village culture in Hindeloopen. Even the language spoken in the village has more in common with dialects from the Scandinavian countries than it has with its own national Dutch language.

At an altitude of 1 metre below sea level, the village of Hindeloopen had often suffered economic setbacks from devastating floods and inundation from sea water until 1932 when the Afsluitdijk was constructed and the rough seas of the ZuiderZee were tamed at last.

Unfortunately, the closure of the Zuiderzee to the open sea also meant the rapid demise of maritime trade and this forced the citizens to search for an alternate means of income. The unemployed sailors soon discovered there was a market for the traditional wooden objects they’d painted during the times when the weather prevented them from going out to sea. The painted objects became known as Hindeloopen art.

Today, the visitor to Hindeloopen will see grassy dykes along the ZuiderZee, dotted with grazing sheep; a harbour bustling with tourists and luxury yachts and many colourful rowboats in Hindeloopen’s sleepy canals. In summer, the many gardens burst with lush hydrangea blooms and the various artists open their studios to showcase an amazing collection of painted wares.

Art Studios in Hindeloopen

Traditionally, the men of the village are the painters of Hindelooper folk art; the woman and wives merely operate the shopfront where the art is sold, so any questions I had on the technical aspects of painting during my visit went largely unanswered. On reflection, I thought this barrier might inadvertently protect the cottage industry from contemporary artistic influences and maintain its purist form.

At the village’s only hotel, I found examples of Hindelooper folk art including a Spinning wheel, a six-sided High Chair and a Bridal suite complete with a “box-bed,” built into the wall. Furthermore, whilst dining at the nearby Pancake cafe, I noticed every chair and table, therein, was painted in Hindelooper florals by Gauke Bootsma, whose neighbouring studio is brimming with a stunning array of art.

Gauke Bootsma

The sheer quantity of works in Bootsma’s shop is absolutely overwhelming. Although his work is in a contemporary light and airy style called, ‘Basic Hindelooper’, the larger items of furniture and serving trays are decorated with a detailed panel depicting village scenes such as sailing boats, Hindeloopen Sluitshouse, (Lock House), or typical Dutch windmills. 

The shop’s display is themed around the traditional background colours of Hindelooper ie: one room has pieces on stained timber; another has monochromatic white and blue designs, and still another has designs on green backgrounds, a feast for the eyes.

Whilst browsing the many cabinets, wine racks, gate-leg tables, milk cans and smaller items in this shop, I spotted the artist, (who was once destined for a career in seafaring like his Harbourmaster father), hard at work upstairs in his studio, producing yet another beautiful Hindelooper item. On seeing me looking at him working, he quietly closed the door to his workshop. The artists can sometimes be secretive about their techniques!

Harmen Zweed

Directly opposite the town’s Hotel, is the studio of Harmen Zweed who paints in the Classic style.  There is a ‘must see’ door lavishly decorated with biblical motifs, fruit, detailed flowers and scrolls, all painted with translucency and an illusion of depth not seen in the Basic style.  The six-sided traditional high chair gives the visitor a hint of what the Zweed’s kitchen must be like, which is painted completely in Hindelooper.

According to Jenny, (the painter’s wife), who operates the Zweed shop, there are ten colours traditionally used in Hindelooper painting, with the predominant floral motifs being the Dogrose, Starflower and Carnation, but tulips may sometimes be used.

You will find several other painting studios in Hindeloopen such as Iekoon and Meine Visser’s shop. Het Roosje’s studio, established in 1894, is almost a museum in itself and contains expertly painted stair-stools for alcove wall-beds, furniture and specialist woodcarving.  

Harmen Glashower’s stunning painting is impressively detailed, but his shop is open only upon request, although I did find him working in the nearby Dutch Fabric shop. The shop stocks the traditional chintz fabrics used in the Hindeloopen folk costumes, and has a photographic catalogue of Glashower’s painted work available for browsing.

Traditional Hindelooper fabric and costume

HISTORIC FOLK ART in MUSEUMS

Museum piece

The Museum Hidde Nijland Foundation located in the Town Hall (circa 1683), is the place to view Hindeloopen’s painting heritage. Not only is there an enthralling collection of colourful tines, bowls, and cupboards, but also furniture and staircases for wall-beds, dating back to the 17^th and 18^th Centuries. 

My personal favourite was a wall panel in blue on a white background, with bird and floral motifs. I noted a faux marble finish was often incorporated into the rim or side of an object. The display of traditional and brightly coloured folk costumes and Dutch tiles are inspirational in colour and design.

Would you like to know more about Traditional forms of art in Hindeloopen? Check out these links.

Roosje Hindeloopen

Glashouwer Hindeloopen – in Dutch

A Visual Feast for the Eyes- Ornate – WPC

In response to The Daily Post’s weekly photo challenge: “Ornate.”

A visual feast for the eyes?

Some may say it is overworked, a sensory overload, yet in historic or religious terms, one can see that the designers wanted to transform material objects, into something ornate in such a way  as to exemplify glory, or divinity, with a fantasy of shapes, colours, and golden embellishments, for the congregation and secular visitors for many generations, to enjoy.

Ettel Monastery

 

Stordal Church in Norway

Austrian Church Nave

It is not only in medieval European churches one find ornate works of art; furniture and homely objects may also be embellished in an ornate way.

Oriental Cupboard in Denmark

Dutch Hindeloopen artwork Something visual to ponder about

Hindeloopen painting -a Traditional Decorative Art

 

 

 

Hindelooper art is a type of traditional decorative painting originated in the northern province of Friesland, The Netherlands.

 

It is a form of folk art painted by the maritime community of Hinderloopen, (a small town on the Zuiderzee). During times of bad weather when there was no fish to sell, sailors/fisherman would turn to painting as a way to pass the time and make some money.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hindeloopen sailors traded with other Hanseatic league member countries – especially Norway, and often brought home objects painted in other traditional styles that had developed from the Baroque  art, primarily Norwegian Rosemaling.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The presence of these styles in the community, in turn, influenced the development of the Hinderlooper’s own village painting, until it evolved into the Hindeloopen art that we see today. The following pieces are my interpretation of Hindeloopen, inspired by the Australian artist, Heleen Van de Haar.

 

 

HIndeloopen Mangle Tray

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have been painting Hindeloopen style of painting and only recently discovered an old family link to Friesland. NO wonder I was attracted to this elegant and very relaxing style of traditional painting.  Traditionally it was the men who did the painting in the village itself, but I so enjoy it. Perhaps the women were so busy with domestic chores they had little time for painting, and it was the men who were stuck ashore in times of bad weather that had time on their hands to create and decorate.

I will include a tutorial on Hindeloopen in the coming months. Something for those interested in traditional art, to ponder about…

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History of Hindeloopen

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