What You Will See, October 2019

The following posts depict a trip to the Netherlands (and Zurich briefly).

We biked between major Dutch cities to visit and learn some  more about art and architecture in the first half of the twentieth century.

The first posts are easy, fun scenes from biking:  Amsterdam south to Utrecht, Rotterdam, Den Haag and back to Amsterdam.  

Take your time, forgive if posts jump back and forth, and  click on the links, if interested.

Starting with the Amsterdam Museum 'Het Schip,' we will delve more fully into specific artists, architects and works of  art:  the Amsterdam School, De Stijl, and more.   Hang onto your patience, this is part of the story of the birth  of modernism, abstraction, and art concerned with social justice.

When you get to the bottom, please click on the 'Older Posts' button to go back in time and see more fine art.

Or, you can pick and choose from the Contents list at the right.

We hope you can derive pleasure and surprise at some of  the  lesser known surprises and learning more about things that we all thought we knew already.

Arrival in Amsterdam

Departure from North Philadelphia train station.  

October posts document a trip to the Netherlands (and Zurich).

There will be several post chapters on what it was like arriving and biking in the Netherlands.

Then there will be more in-depth info on Dutch architecture and art from the first half of the twentieth century.

Arrival in a small village outside Amsterdam.

Dutch Countryside; Sept 2019

Biking Netherlands Sept 2019

A few Dutch Gardens

Utrecht

Utrecht scenes can be very typical of Dutch towns.

Gouda Fair

Rotterdam City Rebuilt

Much of Rotterdam was destroyed by German bombing at the beginning of World War II (see photos below)

Rotterdam has a lot of post-war and modern construction.

New art museum under construction, below, will be clad in mirroring glass.

Rotterdam playful downtown buildings

Ok, that has been the fun and easy part.
Now, we get down to business with a roughly chronological look at some of the major Dutch architects and artists 1900 to 1950.  Let's start with the Amsterdam School....

Het Schip

The Museum Het Schip is one of the finest examples of Amsterdam School Architecture and also a great place to learn about the history and motivations of this movement from the early 1900's that aimed to improve living conditions for working people.  It was designed in 1919 by Michael De Klerk.  Do you recognize this style?

Amsterdam School Architecture

In Amsterdam, below, a school that is still in use today.

Workers' Cooperative housing, above and below from the teens and twenties.

Hotel Amrath, above, in the old Scheepvaarthuis, one of the first and purest examples of the Amsterdam School of architecture:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scheepvaarthuis

Outside the Center, Amsterdam School

The following are a few pictures of Amsterdam School buildings in other cities.  This artistic approach was very influential throughout the Netherlands (and beyond).

 The old Boijman's Museum in Rotterdam, which has been closed

A School in Rotterdam

Primary School in Utrecht

The Kunstmuseum in Den Haag, designed  by Berlage at the end of his career, see next section.