Bogdan Cornea - The Art Traveller, Herengracht 53 (2024)

27/01/2022

Interior view, church of Saint John the New in Suceava, XVI-th century. 📍

21/01/2022

The medieval remains of the princely court in Suceava, XIV-th century, Romania. 📍

19/01/2022

The west façade of Arbore Church, exterior painting, 1503-1504, Bucovina, Romania.📍

01/04/2021

Het Schip - Amsterdam School Modernism, 1919. 📍

20/03/2021

Atelier Brancusi. 📍

17/03/2021

Inhaling darkness.

Antonie Sminck Pitloo, The Grotto of Posillipo at Naples, 1826. 📍

10/03/2021

Baroque excess: silver, stucco, tapestry, gold, stained glass, fresco; a wealth of materials brought together in a dazzling display meant to celebrate the greater glory of God.📍

06/03/2021

Petit Palais, interior view.📍

04/03/2021

Delftware WonderWare, 17th century - 18th century Delft ceramics. 📍

28/02/2021

Women’s tower of Saint Bravo Basilica, 1895-1920, Haarlem. 📍
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An unexpected yet fascinating blend of Byzantine and Jugendstil architecture, tucked away in one of Haarlem’s most unassuming neighborhoods.

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11/10/2019

Maria Helena Vieira da Silva, Untitled: Sandberg’s Liber Amicorun, 1960. Detail.
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Vieira da Silva’s work play with the idea of space and perception, laying on a neutral background delicate flecks of colour to render the impression of depth. Like finding your way in an urban maze, the surface invites you to simultaneously look from above - at what appears to be a grid of an urban planning - and contemplate a cityscape from mid distance; a changing work of form and matter that never abandons its abstract quality. See this amazing work in an exciting exhibition on migrant artists in Paris at the 📍 .

09/10/2019

Peter Paul Rubens, The Rockox Triptych - The Incredulity of St Thomas, 1613-1615. Detail.
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Commissioned by Sir Nicholaas ll Rockox - Lord Mayor of Antwerp - for his family chapel in the Recollects Church in Antwerp, the triptych perfectly expresses the wonder of Thomas as he is confronted with the bodily proof of Christ’s resurrection. Rubens follows closely the biblical text where Thomas does not actually touch the body of Christ - for what is sacred must always remain untouchable.📍

24/09/2019

Funerary monument of Michiel de Ruyter, 1681.
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In the old choir of the Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam stands an impressive funerary monument dedicated to the Dutch military commander if the golden age - Michiel de Ruyter. Executed by the Dutch baroque sculptor Rombout Verhulst, the central scene depicts de Ruyter’s famous victory over the English in what history remembers as the Raid on the Medway. 📍

13/09/2019

Detail of the ballroom of the Bartolotti House, Amsterdam, 1775.
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The Bartolotti house is one of the few remaining examples of Renaissance architecture in the city. Although when it was finished in 1620s, the house was one of the largest merchant residences in the city, it was nonetheless extended several times thoughts the centuries- a gesture that reflects the growing social ambitions of its subsequent owners. In the 18th century, for instance, a large ballroom was added at the back of the building. The Rocco stucco still impresses visitors with the delicacy of its ex*****on. The client of this extension was non other than the wealthy waking ship-owner Jan van Tarelink. 📍

10/09/2019

Mark di Suvero (1933), K-piece, 1972.
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The sculpture shows Di Suvero’s interest in the spatial effect of the linear elements - although the lines are perfectly balanced, they constantly seem to lose that balance. Walking around it one can feel the tension emerging from this “balance explosion”. 📍

10/09/2019

Henry Moore, Sculpture with hole and light, 1967.
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In the nineteen sixties, Moore stayed for several months each year in his summer home near Carrara in Tuscany. This may be where he bought the red travertine that he used for this sculpture. The poetics is rendered by the fluency between hard material and the soft sculpturing of light rendered through the inclination of the holes.📍

09/09/2019

The Haarlemmerpoort, 1840.
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There has been a city gate on this spot since the 14th century. The current structure replaced an earlier version designed by the celebrated architect Hendrick de Keysen. One of the few examples of neo-classical architecture still surviving in the city, this gate was opened by king Willem II a day before his inauguration. 📍

05/09/2019

Anton Mauve, Morning Ride on the Beach, 1876.
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Mauve was one of the key representatives of the so-called “Hague School” of painting - an informal groups of artists, heavily influenced by the realism of the French Barbizon School, mostly active at the end of the 19th century. They favoured atmosphere and impression - often with the use of muted tones - rather than faithful portrayal of reality. Mauve clearly mastered the subtle variation of tones that render the moody atmosphere, while the dynamism of the scene is rendered through the movement of light. His commitment to realism however can be observed in the horse droppings on the foreground. They were found insensitive and thus covered up at the request of a later owner. During a recent restoration the details were reinstated and the yellow varnish removed.📍

02/09/2019

Paulus van Vianen, Mercury and the Sleeping Argus, 1610.
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Executed in the auricular style - a style defined by softly flowing abstract shapes in relief - this silver plaque depicts the killing of Argus, sleeping in the foreground, by Mercury, lurking in the bushes. Note the unrealistic elongation of the body, specific to the late mannerist period. 📍
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30/08/2019

The golden hour at the Willemspoort, Amsterdam.
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The Willemspoort is the second city gate that stands on this spot. The original gate - Harlemmerpoort - was created by the celebrated architect Hendrick de Keysen and deemed a masterpiece of seventeenth-century architecture. After falling into disrepair, the gate gate was torn down in the early 19th century to make way for a new construction. The new gate was officially opened in 1840 by Willem II, on theday before his inauguration, when he triumphantly entered the capital. The building remains one of the few examples of neo-classical architecture in the city. 📍

29/08/2019

Piet Mondriaan, Tableau no.1, 1913.
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After moving to Paris, Mondriaan quickly adopted the cubism under the influence of Braque and Picasso. Analytical cubism aims to dissect a figure or object by reducing it to its essential components. For instance, this painting has the underdrawing of a three, although the motif is barely recognisable in the finished canvas. 📍

28/08/2019

View of the garden room of Het Grachtenhuis, Amsterdam.
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Overlooking the garden, the walls of this room are decorated with landscape paintings showing character figures of the eighteenth-century, including farmers and travellers. Throughout its history, house was owned by various bankers and merchants. It is thus by no coincidence that the the Dutch loans funding the American revolution were signed and sealed here. 📍

28/08/2019

Cornelis van Haarlem, The Massacre of the Innocents, 1590. Detail.
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Karen van Mander - the famous art historian of the seventeenth century - described the painting the following way: “Here one sees a great confusion of naked Child- killers, and the efforts of the mothers to save their children; also diverse flesh of different ages, this of men, women, and children, and the change wrought by death in the drained bodies.” 📍
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27/08/2019

Summer afternoon on the Western Islands of Amsterdam.
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Locsted not far from the city centre, the Western Islands were created during the 17th century by the artificial formation of three small islands. Originally they were docks for the ships that sailed towards the Levant and the Baltic Sea. Full of warehouses, shipyards, and various small businesses, the islands were bustling with activity. This change after the harbour moved in the late 19th century. In the first half of the 20th century they feel into disrepair only to later emerged as a favourite place for artists and writers. 📍

26/08/2019

Gold-plated side-table, Northern Netherlands, anonymous, 1690-1710.
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This baroque side-table is decorated with the mythological story of the “Rape of Europa”. On the front board, among the rich carvings played with gold leafs, we can see the figure of Europa being carried away by Zeus, transformed into a bull. Europa will become the first Queen of Crete and eventually give her name to the continent we nowadays call Europe. The myths became a popular subject of representation during the Early Modern Period, directly referencing the ancient work of the roman poet Ovid: The Metamorphosis. 📍

26/08/2019

Wash day in the Jordaan, 1951.
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The Jordaan - now a charming area filled with independent shops and old fashioned cafes - was once a steadfast working-class neighbourhood. This pictures captures what used to be a very familiar sight - a mother doing the laundry outside while the children candidly play in the water. After the 1960s, many of the original working-class residents were driven out by the rising price of living to more affordable locations outside of the city.📍

25/08/2019

Rogier van der Weyden (and workshop),The Lamentation, 1460-1464.
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As of the most accomplished masters of Netherlandish art, van der Weyden ran a large workshop with apprentices doing most of the base work while the master laid the finishing touches to the painting. The figures were made after cut out drawing that could be arranged like a collage to construct the narrative of an image. Note the discrepancy between the landscape and the positioning of the figures. The pain and intensity of the moment is internalised and poignantly expresses by Mary’s closed eyes. 📍

25/08/2019

View of an interior garden, Amsterdam canal house.
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Most canal houses have a front house overlooking the canal and a back house. The front house hosts a ‘belle etage’ - a main reception area with high decorated ceilings - while the back house is designed on a more intimate level. These two buildings are connected by a main staircase and usually overlook a small paved courtyard. 📍

22/08/2019

View of Reguliersbreestraat, 1988.
A nostalgic view of Amsterdam in the late 1980s. Note the intensity of colour specific to film photography, how beautifully it captures the vibrancy of life amongst the profusion of commercial advertising. 📍

22/08/2019

The garden room, Van Loon House.
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A later addition to the house, this room overlooking the formal gardens was used for afternoon tea during the long rainy days. No surprising, the entire decorative scheme relies on rich floral motifs, with the silk wallpaper made in China and the mantelpiece from white Italian marble. The portraits depict the children of the Van Loon family throughout the ages. 📍

21/08/2019

City view: A significant number of houses in the city were originally built as warehouses for the booming trade of the Dutch Golden Age. They were only later transformed into living spaces. The house pictured here is located in the western islands of Amsterdam, a cozy place known for its splendid community of artists and writers.📍

21/08/2019

Melchior d’Hondecoeter, The Menagerie, 1690. ~
Hondecoeter was a master at depicting exotic animals arranged in s fantastical menagerie: white sulphur-crested cockatoos, grey parrots, and squirrel monkeys. The animal were imbued with moral meaning - the monkeys for instance symbolised foolishness. This painting was destined for the private apartments of the Stadtholder-King William III at Het Loo Palace. 📍

19/08/2019

Bathsheba Bathing. Cornelis Cornelisz van Haarlem, 1594.
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The painting depicts the Old Testament scene of the bathing of Bathsheba. King David accidentally saw her from the roof of his palace and immediately fell in love with her. She became his wife and the mother of King Solomon, who succeeded David, thus making her Queen Mother. The portrayal is striking due to the depiction of the black maidservant - a rare appearance in Renaissance paintings. The maid with standing with back at us is also unusually portrayed, having the body of a man, rather than of a woman.📍
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Bogdan Cornea - The Art Traveller

27/01/2022

21/01/2022

19/01/2022

01/04/2021

20/03/2021

17/03/2021

10/03/2021

06/03/2021

04/03/2021

28/02/2021

11/10/2019

09/10/2019

24/09/2019

13/09/2019

10/09/2019

10/09/2019

09/09/2019

05/09/2019

02/09/2019

30/08/2019

29/08/2019

28/08/2019

28/08/2019

27/08/2019

26/08/2019

26/08/2019

25/08/2019

25/08/2019

22/08/2019

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