Art special
Ars longa vita brevis
With an artist in the family the home page must have a page for museums, art shows, colleagues and memorable moments of art. And a "News Desk" too!
We have also taken up an old interest - photography. See some of our pictures on SmugMug.
An old master we like very much is Jan Vermeer van Delft. Here to the left you see one of his most famous paintings – Girl with a Pearl Earring – a suitable lead-in for this section. The picture links to a page where you can see large versions of Vermeer's paintings.
A real treasure with hundreds of works of arts are shown by the Web Galley of Art.
Memorable moments in museums – two favorites
Happiness can be meeting "the Girl with a pearl earring" by Jan Vermeer, in Mauritshuis in Haag, Holland! A portrait, very old, but still alive and Margareta's favourite since she met her long ago in 1964.There are no photos or printings good enough to give you that feeling of standing in front of a living person. Mona-Lisa may be famous, but this painting almost knocked me (M)!
Walking through numerous rooms on feet in shoes seeming to shrink, looking at huge and famous paintings of battles and still-life (natures mortes) and your brain meekly asks: "why?", and then, suddenly, find the paintings by Vermeer in a small almost hidden room, his fantastic view of Delft and the girl with the shimmering pearl earring. Aha, so that is what the books try to explain to you! No book in the whole world can ever give you the same feeling, so if you visit Haag (Hague), go to the Mauritshuis and see the Old Masters Jan Vermeer van Delft and Frans Hals. Two Masters well worth the entrance fee!
Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem. Lovely! The museum's home page is very nice and lots of thumbnail pictures to enlarge. What a collection! In the well known group paintings by Frans Hals every face is a portrait. You will remember your visits in these museums for many years!
The Frans Hals Museum has a superb collection of old Dolls Houses too! Tiny miniatures of the grown-up world from different centuries. Has there ever been a child allowed to play with these art treasures? Made by a skilful carpenter as a miniature copy of the customer's house.
Frans Hals museum
Room in a doll's house, about 60 cm wide
Art and art history
Art History Resources for Students, Enthusiasts, and Educators – from About.com, lots of links, e.g. this one – ART HISTORY RESOURCES: Part 20 Research Resources – everything is there! Pictures, biographies, books, museums ... and there you'll find more links, leading to links, leading to links, leading to ... and on and on ... >>> to e.g. this EmbARK Web Kiosk (a searchable image database of almost 19,000 images from throughout the world by Kathleen Cohen) which is a door to a gigantic encyclopedia of Art History and Art.
Do "bookmark" interesting pages during your browsing of these sites, because it is very easy to get lost in the virtual museums and to forget where you started!
It is no idea to write more about Art and Art History, because anything you want to know is hidden in the links above! And by the way, don't forget the small museums with odd and old things you'll find in villages and towns on vacations in different countries! Vintage cars, ditto trains, cider, chocolate, odds and ends from Granny's childhood or older. There are collectors of everything in every country. Even of corks to wine bottles! We have met one collector of almost everything, in Ireland.
One of our favourites is An Dún Transport & Heritage Museum, Athlone, Ireland. Please, have a short tour in these pictures! Point with the mouse to enlarge! Their vintage toy train ...
Collegues in art
Societies
Illustratörcentrum – Designers & Illustrators of Sweden
Föreningen Svenska Tecknare – Society for artists of Design in Sweden
Svenska Konstnärer, The largest internet gallery in Scandinavia.
Konstkvarteret with Search for an artist's name
Marie Fredriksson, Little One Design - a very beautiful and informative page about Calligraphy, lots of examples of this Art.
INUTI – (an organisation for retarded artists) gives work-shops and exhibitions with organisations all over Europe
Some more colleagues with a home page of their own, please pop in on a visit!
Erik Cedervall – works in aquarelle/water colour and oil, graphics (Pär made the web site)
Militta Wellner and Rune Johansson – illustrators and designers
Tippan Nordén – illustrator, painter, fashion
Aalborg Kunstpavillon – a beautiful situated art museum in Denmark. Links to many Danish artists.
Nordic Museum of Aquarelle – museum with courses in painting – in Skärhamn, Tjörn in Bohuslän
Nordiska Akvarellsällskapet– Nordic Water Colour Society
Gerlesborgsskolan – Art School in Tanum, Bohuslän, lots of courses, and during summer studios for rent!
