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Activities for the Season 2009 - 2010Each season, in addition to our lectures, we undertake special activities such as visits to museums. Mistaking Earth for Heav'nMay 24th, 15.30A programme of Netherlandish and English vocal & keyboard music (16th & 17th centuries) will be performed and accompanied by Peter Medhurst. The music makes particular connection with the current Constantyn Huygens' exhibition in Voorburg referencing the great diplomat's period at the Court of James I in England. Music includes works by Dowland, Huygens, Byrd, Sweelinck, Monteverdi, Steenwick, Purcell and others. Peter Medhurst, bass-baritone and organist, will play on the two organs in the church. The main organ, known as the Princess Marianne Organ, was presented to the church in 1879 when Princess Marianne lived in Voorburg. This year we are celebrating the 200th anniversary of her birth. The organ concert will be followed by playing of the Carillon by Loek Boogert who has played carillons all over the world. You may climb the tower to see the carillon, or follow his playing on a TV screen in the church below. Entrance: €5 DFAS members, €7.50 non-members. Reservations: please contact us. Venue: The Old Church, Herenstraat 77, Voorburg. 
Peter MedhurstPeter Medhurst’s work as singer, pianist and lecturer-recitalist has taken him all over the world, and over the last few years he has toured Australia and New Zealand (twice), South Africa (three times), and made frequent tours around Europe, giving performances in Berlin, Vienna, Salzburg, Brussels, Amsterdam and Paris. Closer to home, he has presented and taken part in the Classical Music Company’s series of Mozart opera days at the Royal Festival Hall (2004-8), and headed events at the Wallace Collection, the National Gallery and the V&A linking the visual arts with the world of 17th & 18th century music making. He is a familiar face to audiences of music societies and British festivals as well as to those of arts based organisations such as NADFAS, The Arts Fund and The National Trust. In addition to voice and piano studies at the Royal College of Music and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, he took harpsichord lessons with Ruth Dyson, who later became his vocal accompanist and fellow keyboard duettist in a wonderful partnership that lasted nearly twenty years. His recordings include For Two to Play, A Partridge in a Pear Tree, and a new CD entitled Handel and His Satellites to celebrate 250 years since the composer’s death. Art Amsterdam Tour28th of MayMatthijs Erdman is an expert on modern art and has worked at Christies in Amsterdam and London and now consults for many of the world's leading collectors and museums. He will give us a tour of the highlights of Art Amsterdam Fair and explain some of the latest trends in the current art market. The 26th edition of Art Amsterdam, Holland’s largest contemporary art fair, will take place from 26th to 30th May 2010. In addition to the leading Dutch galleries, Art Amsterdam will welcome exhibitors from countries such as Belgium, Germany, France, the UK, Denmark and South Korea. Cost: The fee for members is €5 non-members €7.50. This does not include the entrance tickets which are normally € 20 per visit. Tickets and more information can be obtained on line at www.artamsterdam.com or at the entrance. Online booking gives a discount of € 5 and one can book a 2nd class train ticket return trip for only € 5. Reservations: The tour will be limited to 20 people and we will meet up with Matthijs at 19.00. There will be no extra costs for the tour and afterwards we can have a drink together and discuss what we have seen. If you want to join us please contact us. Venue: Park Hall, Amsterdam RAI Tour of The Netherlands Institute for Art History (RKD)Thursday June 24th, 14.00The RKD is one of the most important art-historical information centres in the world. Founded in 1932, it is an essential resource for art historians and anyone else with an interest in art whether professional or private. Their extensive collections relate to Western art from the Middle Ages to the present with the nucleus being the Dutch art and include, archival collection, visual, technical, and press documentation. Every year thousands of visitors from the Netherlands and abroad find their way to the RKD in The Hague and to the databases on the website. Reservations: If you would like to join us on this tour, please contact us. Venue: Prins Willem-Alexanderhof 5, (National Library Building), 2595 The Hague Genuine or Fake? Original or copy?Are you curious about a work of art (painting, drawing, print) that you might have? Would you like to know more about the artist, style or period when it was made? Or do you have a letter or historical record from an artist that you would like to know more about? After our tour you are welcome to show any of these to the RKD specialists who will be available to give you further information about them such as the painter, subject, and technique etc. If you do not want to bring the original work of art, you could bring a good quality photograph. Click here to visit the RKD website. Previous activities this seasonAn Indonesian EveningApril 22, 19.30As guests of the Indonesian Embassy, we will have a taste of Indonesian culture including the music and culinary treats. Susan McKinley will give a lecture on Indonesian textiles and show us some of her collection. Thousands of different textiles are produced in Indonesia, each linked to a rich cultural heritage. The talk will offer a brief overview of handmade textiles in Indonesia, with emphasis on the two major resist techniques, Batik and Ikat. Susan will discuss the process for these two techniques. She will highlight a few kinds of textiles which are made across the Indonesian archipelago and in a few instances, tell the stories or meanings that go with the motifs. Venue: Indonesian Embassy Cost: Members €15 (non-members €17.50) Visit to Royal Gardens Exhibit at the Teyler’s Museum in HaarlemApril 11, 2010, 13.00
Our guide in the Teylers museum 
Committee member Sue Bridgwater presents 
Members looking at the exhibit. Members and friends of DFAS visited this exhibit which brought together HRH the Prince of Wales, King Louis XIV, King-Stadtholder William III and Empress Joséphine Bonaparte to let you become acquainted with the most important royal gardens of the last 400 years and their passionate owners. Our afternoon started with a lecture given by Anne Marie Evans, botanical artist and initiator of the Highgrove Florelegium of Prince Charles and was followed by a tour of the exhibit. This delightful visit ended with a delicious tea with scones in the restaurant of the museum. The highlight of the exhibition was the original watercolours of the Highgrove Florilegium - a prestigious large-format book with flower portraits from the Prince of Wales’ garden. It was the first time that these botanical images from the princely residence of Highgrove have been on display in the Netherlands. The exhibit not only included the drawings from this very valuable book, weighing nearly 20 kilos, on loan with the kind permission of HRH The Prince of Wales, but also presented other key works of botanical art. The British Crown Prince, an inspired gardener and watercolourist, not only finds these books good for the soul but also regards them as highly important as they remind us of the fact that we are part of nature and not a separate entity. There is a long tradition of florilegia, or flower books. In centuries past many royal families had their flower and plant collections immortalised in abundantly illustrated books. The Teylers Museum collection includes one of the rarest and most exquisite florilegia in the world: the Hortus Eystettensis from 1613 with hand-coloured illustrations of unusual plants. Apart from wonderful water colours, drawings, prints and valuable books covering four centuries of gardening history, the exhibition also included a view towards the future. The principle of ‘working with nature rather than against it', also known as ecological gardening, was represented. Prince Charles' garden is an excellent example of this and it sets the trend for ‘new gardening'. Tour of the Panorama MesdagJanuary 24th at 12.15Below: The group behind the scenes.  To complement our January lecture on panoramas, we organised a ‘behind the scenes’ tour of the Panorama Mesdag. Many members and friends including our patron and his family and members of the Brussels DFAS society joined us on a cold snowy morning. Mrs. Evelyn Onnes-Fruitema who has written extensively about panoramas and Panorama Mesdag in particular was our guide. When we went behind the scenes we could get a closer look at the wife of Bernard Bloomers and child, which is the part of the canvas that DFAS has chosen to support with our donation. Bernard Bloomers was one of the artists who helped to paint the panorama.
Below: Mvr. Bloomers with child
Film Evening November 13th 2009To complement our November lecture, "Queen Victoria: Success through Portraiture and her Struggle for the Throne" by Dr. Kate Williams, we had a film evening at the home of one of our committee members. The film, "Young Victoria", was shown on a large screen. A glass of wine and goodies were enjoyed after the film. Private tour of the Venduehuis, The Hague
October 30th 2009, 14:00Members and friends had a lovely afternoon at the Venduehuis which is the oldest auction house in The Netherlands. Over refreshments Philomeen P.M. van 't Hooft, told us about the history of this institution explaining that its half-French name originated from the Napoleonic era. It was founded in 1812 as an initiative of notaries of The Hague and is located in the stately building on the Nobelstraat. She also gave us some very practical tips and some ‘do’s and don’ts’ of taking part in an auction and pointed out some of the objects that would be in the auction. Then we were able to preview the objects for the bi-annual sale which had many irresistible objects at our leisure. The afternoon was ended with a lovely afternoon tea at the Hof van Eten.
Expat Day @ ARTI09Thursday 8 October 2009During the fourth edition of ARTI09, the art, design and taste fair, the organisers have decided to create a special Expat day which will have a special Dutch flavour. The special program for the Expat Day includes an art lecture, tours around the fair, music and food and more.
ARTI09 is being held, from Wednesday 7 October to Sunday 11 October. In recent years, ARTI09 has developed into a modern and refreshing fair for art lovers and collectors alike. During ARTI09, approximately 40 galleries and design studios from the whole of the Netherlands will be displaying their work. Typical of the art fair is its qualitative offer of art and design for a wide group of art lovers and collectors. The following galleries, among others, will be present at the fair: Wanrooij Fine Art, The Obsession of Art, Galerie Noordeinde, Artitled, Villa del Arte Galleries, Galerie Beeldkracht, Galerie Annee and Smelik & Stokking. This year, ARTI is expected to attract 9,000 visitors. Venue: ARTI09, Fokker Terminal, Binckhorstlaan 249, The Hague. Opening: The fair will be open to the public on Wednesday 7 October (6 pm - 10 pm), Thursday 8 October and Friday 9 October (3 pm - 10 pm), Saturday 10 October and Sunday 11 October (11 am - 6 pm). Season OpenerSeptember 26 2009
Sanny demonstrating in her shop
Our host and hostess The 2009-10 DFAS season opener took place in historical Delft. First the group met at the fashionable shop of Sanny de Zoete. Sanny welcomed members and friends to her shop for a presentation on the making of linen, historical storage and maintenance methods, modern design of linens and more. Sanny became fascinated with the story of linen and returned to university as an Art History major later than usual, finishing with a specialty in Linen.
Sanny in front of her shop
Our hosts and members of DFAS After the shop visit, the group walked to the historic home of Elly Boonman and Tom Fransen, where nibbles and drinks were served in the garden. Tom gave a brief presentation about the history of the home and led small groups on tours. The house is actually made up of 4 houses which date back to the 16th century. Here lived the frater (or friar’s) who accompanied the pupils attending the nearby Latin School. So probably Hugo de Groot and the Dutch Pope Adrian VI spent time here. In the 18th century the frater’s house and houses next door became the Poor Old Men and Women Houses . Tom bought the house in the 1970s and has lovingly reconstructed it for the past 30 years. Incidentally, the dining room table was set with one of Sanny de Zoete’s modern design tablecloths. |
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