This thesis was inspired by a film. While watching James McTeigue’s V for Vendetta (2005), I came to notice the similarities between the film’s dystopian society and twentieth century totalitarian...Show moreThis thesis was inspired by a film. While watching James McTeigue’s V for Vendetta (2005), I came to notice the similarities between the film’s dystopian society and twentieth century totalitarian regimes—the Third Reich (1933-1945), Fascist Italy (1922-1943), and Soviet Russia (1922-1991)—and their respective treatment of art. In order to answer the question of how art is represented in films about totalitarianism, and contextualize this relationship historically, six films have been analyzed. These films have been selected for their depiction of fictional totalitarian regimes which bear resemblance to the aforementioned three historic ones. A discussion is created which analyzes how art and material culture in the films are used to indoctrinate the people and reaffirm the government’s power. This includes not only propaganda posters and images, but the use of symbols and sigils, as well as the use of art to establish the regime as a new religion. The desire for a “one true art form” to replace the degenerate arts and promote the regime, as seen in the Third Reich and Soviet Russia especially, is not seen in the films, which instead focus more on a holistic ban on art and culture. Finally, the way degenerate art is represented in the film shows it to provide support for the narrative. Most art seen in the films belongs to the characters who embody the rebellion or those with enough power and resources to exist above the illegality of art ownership.Show less
Collecting was a popular elite pastime in much of early modern Europe. Collections could include a wide range of objects, which were studied and displayed at home, and sometimes described and...Show moreCollecting was a popular elite pastime in much of early modern Europe. Collections could include a wide range of objects, which were studied and displayed at home, and sometimes described and visualised in books. In the Dutch Republic around the turn of the eighteenth century, collections of natural objects were especially popular. The books that describe and show these collections are important sources for understanding how nature was appreciated and studied in the 18th-century Dutch Republic. However, from a modern perspective, the detailed images of often symmetrically arranged objects in these books are hard to understand as either 'art' or 'science'. This thesis explains how conventions from both natural history and applied arts, as well as certain religious ideas influenced these images. Using three case studies, D'Amboinsche rariteitkamer (1705) by Georg Rumphius, Het tweede deel van het wondertooneel der natuur (1715) by Levinus Vincent, and the Thesaurus (four volumes, 1734–1765) by Albertus Seba, the thesis shows that these conventions and ideas were used flexibly by different authors-collectors to suit their own purposes and approach to nature.Show less
Onderzoek naar de Vier Oranjeprinsen van François Dieussart en hun functie in de dynastieke politiek van de Oranjes. Biografie van een beeldengroep: in marmer (in 1945 vernietigd) en de nog niet...Show moreOnderzoek naar de Vier Oranjeprinsen van François Dieussart en hun functie in de dynastieke politiek van de Oranjes. Biografie van een beeldengroep: in marmer (in 1945 vernietigd) en de nog niet eerder gepubliceerde duplicaten in zink (thans Huis ten Bosch)Show less
The present thesis explores the idea of the painter-advisor at the seventeenth-century Spanish court by means of the case study of the sale of Rubens's art collection in 1640. Philip IV bought...Show moreThe present thesis explores the idea of the painter-advisor at the seventeenth-century Spanish court by means of the case study of the sale of Rubens's art collection in 1640. Philip IV bought around thirty paintings from the master's estate. In this operation, a group of painters developed important tasks of advising either on behalf of the Spanish king or Rubens. Here these tasks will be further analyzed in order to add evidence to the phenomenon of painter-advisors in Europe throughout the 17th century, as well as to their multifaceted careers that, more often that it is thought, not only included the production of paintings, but also other services based on their connoisseurship.Show less
Botany saw numerous publications in Europe during the 16th – 17th centuries, most of which contained illustrations. Another visual aspect of these books which has received less study is the...Show moreBotany saw numerous publications in Europe during the 16th – 17th centuries, most of which contained illustrations. Another visual aspect of these books which has received less study is the frontispiece. This essay provides a case study on the two frontispieces for the English work known as "The Herball" (1597, 1633). This study investigates the visual thinking of early modern Europe and the relationship between art and science during this period. The central question to be answered during this research is: What can the 1597 and 1633 frontispieces for John Gerard’s "The Herball" tell us about the visual understanding of botany in the late 16th and early 17th century England?Show less
Over the early modern period Europe saw great change in its practices of the studies of nature as a result of the invention of the printing press, the opening up of the new world and trade systems,...Show moreOver the early modern period Europe saw great change in its practices of the studies of nature as a result of the invention of the printing press, the opening up of the new world and trade systems, and the invention of the microscope. At the same time, artists began incorporating the bodies of insects and small animals into their works. Small animals and insects became their own major subjects of study for philosophers of nature and artists. In addition, the line between artist and philosopher of nature blurred, leading to artists and philosophers of nature collaborating over their findings. This thesis seeks to answer the question of how the changing ideas on small animals and insects in Europe during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries can be seen in the works of artists of the same period, and how did these works influence European naturalist views on small animals and insects.Show less
When we think about Vienna around 1900, our first associations with this period are fin-de-siècle and the establishment of the Art Nouveau period. Moreover, it was a time of blossoming cultural...Show moreWhen we think about Vienna around 1900, our first associations with this period are fin-de-siècle and the establishment of the Art Nouveau period. Moreover, it was a time of blossoming cultural life during the greatest period of the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The main goal of Viennese Art Nouveau was to supplant the entrenched historical styles with modern, bourgeois and Austrian style. Furthermore, the main concept of the Art Nouveau was to strive for a style unity in every possible field of art. The architecture and decorative arts of the Sezessionsstil were much appreciated by Viennese cultural circles. The Austrian cultural centre subsequently became a home to this type of art, since 1900. There emerged two primary art associations called Sezession established in 1897 by Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), and Wiener Werkstätte, begun in 1903 by Josef Hoffman (1870-1956). Klimt’s paintings are characterised by applied influences of symbolic paintings of Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, elements of Egyptian paintings, Byzantine mosaics and Japanese art. The essence of those factors can be found in later Klimt paintings such as The Kiss (1907-1908). The architect Josef Hoffman on the other hand, was operating with straight lines and geometrical figures. One of the most eminent projects ascribed to Hoffman is the Sanatorium in Purkersdorf (1903-1904) and the Palais Stocklet in Brussels (1905-1911). Notably, Sezession became an opposition to academic art and 19th century eclecticism. The main objective of this style was to break with historicism and focus on nature instead. However, along with Art Nouveau, Vienna also took a traditional approach to art and collecting, understood as creating a collection based on early modern Italian and Renaissance art as well as on Dutch Golden Age paintings. International connections, such as a good flow of information on sales and the developing art trade in a specific period enabled many collectors to purchase a good number of old master paintings. Among the Viennese collectors captivated by Renaissance art, Karol Lanckoroński (1848-1933) is the eminent example of a collector, who managed to create an incredibly interesting and broad collection, as we will see in following chapters.Show less
This thesis explores the life of Nicolaes Sohier (1588-1642), a very wealthy merchant in Amsterdam during the 17th century who was also interested in art, music and architecture. The main question...Show moreThis thesis explores the life of Nicolaes Sohier (1588-1642), a very wealthy merchant in Amsterdam during the 17th century who was also interested in art, music and architecture. The main question of this thesis is: did Nicolaes Sohier use his cultural interests and cultural networks in order to climb the social ladder in Amsterdam during the first half of the 17th century? Therefore, not only his cultural interests are an important aspect of this research, but also his networks.Show less
Research master thesis | Arts and Culture (research) (MA)
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This thesis focused on several female collectors in the seventeenth century in the Low Countries and what their influence has been on for example the science of botany, garden design, and...Show moreThis thesis focused on several female collectors in the seventeenth century in the Low Countries and what their influence has been on for example the science of botany, garden design, and entomology. The main figures that are discussed are Maria Sybilla Merian, Magdalena Poulle, and Agnes Block.Show less
The present thesis seeks to analyze the specific issues emerging from the transition of a private collection into the public realms of the museum, exemplified by a specific exhibition. "For Your...Show moreThe present thesis seeks to analyze the specific issues emerging from the transition of a private collection into the public realms of the museum, exemplified by a specific exhibition. "For Your Eyes Only. A Private Collection between Mannerism and Surrealism" has displayed Richard and Ulla Dreyfus-Best’s private collection for the general public at the Peggy Guggenheim Foundation in Venice and the Kunstmuseum Basel as a travelling exhibition in 2014. The interaction between ‘private’ and ‘public’ has been a central aspect when examining the origins of the museum. Although these interrelations have been academically acknowledged in a historical context and in connection with the alleged “boom” of personal-collection museums, the curatorial standpoint of this transition has been fairly neglected. Moreover, neither the Dreyfus-Best collection, nor its public display has been thorogouly investigated. Thus, new insights beyond the object’s textual and formal connections haven’t been published so far. The following research intends to outlines the underlying structures of the collection’s transition from the private into the public realm of the Kunstmuseum Basel. The main research objective is thus to unfold the ways of curatorial reinterpretation in order to understand how a private collection is made understandable and intellectually accessible for the public by means of particular structures and concepts of order. The Dreyfus-Best collection’s similarities to a Renaissance Wunderkammer will be used as starting point to question whether similar structures were implemented in the curatorial concept of the exhibition at the Kunstmuseum. Furthermore, Michel Foucault’s account on the ‘Renaissance episteme’ will be examined, in order to propose a certain applicability of these ordering principles to the basic structure of the museum-exhibition.Show less
Women in England during the early modern period had relatively little autonomy in pursuing their own goals and in defining their own identity. This was particularly true of married women, who...Show moreWomen in England during the early modern period had relatively little autonomy in pursuing their own goals and in defining their own identity. This was particularly true of married women, who laboured under the restrictions placed upon them by the laws of coverture, which removed many of their legal rights. Upon widowhood, however, a new opportunity for self-expression was immediately presented in the form of the socially-accepted tradition of commissioning a monument commemorating their husband. In this thesis I will examine the process by which these commissions took place and comment upon the difficulties and expectations, as well as the opportunities and motives, faced by widows engaging in this relatively unique form of artistic patronage.Show less
Isabella d’Este (1474-1539) verzamelde een representatieve universele collectie naturalia en artificialia en stelde deze in haar collectieruimten, de grotta en de studiolo, voor diplomatieke...Show moreIsabella d’Este (1474-1539) verzamelde een representatieve universele collectie naturalia en artificialia en stelde deze in haar collectieruimten, de grotta en de studiolo, voor diplomatieke doeleinden ten toon. Vanaf 1490 tot 1520 in haar woonvertrekken in de Castello di San Giorgio in Mantua; erna in de Appartemento della Grotta in de Corte Vecchia, waar de studiolo inmiddels was gaan dienen als anticamera voor de grotta. Het onderhavige onderzoek betrekt, in aanvulling op eerder verricht onderzoek naar haar kunstpatronage, de perceptie van de beschouwer in de vraag naar de betekenis en functie van collectie en collectieruimten voor Isabella d’Este als politiek bestuurder, en stelt tevens de vraag naar herkomst en betekenis van de naam grotta. Gebleken is dat de grotta representatieve betekenis en een belangrijke diplomatieke functie heeft gehad. In relatie tot de bestuurlijke positie van deze vorstin en de haar als vrouw opgelegde deugden, kan alleen aan de grotta dezelfde politieke betekenis worden verleend, als aan de studiolo van de vorst. De naam grotta voor de plaats waar de natuur haar zeldzame en kostbare producten samenbrengt, voor de mens om kennis te vergaren, bracht haar de reputatie van de wijze vorstin, zonder risico van afbreuk aan haar vrouwelijke deugden.Show less
