Rijksmuseum stamp sheet: parts of a larger whole
The Rijksmuseum is essentially a vast warehouse filled with an immense number of works of art. Using a smartphone and/or tablet, one can now visit the museum virtually. This allows for an easy visual exploration of the art collection. 24 works of art are depicted on the Rijksmuseum stamp sheet. The designer shows fourteen objects Irma Boom we see square cutouts. With these, she (according to her vision) accentuates the artworks in an emphatic way. The remaining ten squares are shortened either on the left or on the right. A smaller part of the object is therefore visible. Very little of artwork 10 is visible. The total collection of the museum, including paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, photographs, historical objects, porcelain, silver, jewelry, glass, earthenware, and applied arts, comprises approximately one million objects. Over eight thousand of these are displayed in eighty galleries. A tiny part of this vast collection is arranged thematically on the stamp sheet. This has created a representative picture of the enormous museum collection, covering both time (primarily the 17th century) and subject matter and technique:
- Stamps 1 through 5 relate to religion and morality,
- Stamps 6 through 10 relate to still lifes and nature,
- Stamps 11 through 15 relate to movement and stillness,
- Stamps 16 through 19 relate to simplicity and wealth,
- Stamps 20 through 24 relate to men and children.
1 Caesar Boëtius van Everdingen (1616-1678): Young woman with a wide-brimmed hat, 1645, oil on panel.
2 Gerard ter Borch (1617-1681): The Paternal Admonition, 1653, oil on canvas.
3 Pieter Jansz Saenredam (1597-1665): Interior of the St. Odulphus Church in Assendelft, 1649, oil on panel.
4 Jan van Scorel (1495-1562): Mary Magdalene, 1530, oil on panel.
5 Studio of Geertgen tot Sint Jans (1455-1485): The Holy Kinship, 1495, oil on panel.
6 Melchior d’Hondecoeter (1636-1695): The Floating Feather, 1680, oil on panel.
7 Balthasar van der Ast (1593-1657): Still Life with Fruits and Flowers, 1620, oil on panel.
8 Hans Bollongier (1598-1672): Still Life with Flowers, 1639, oil on panel.
9 Jacob Olie Jr. (1879-1955): Vivi, dressed in a red dress in a forest, 1910, autochrome process on glass slide.
10 Jan Davidsz de Heem (1606-1683): Garland of fruits and flowers, 1660, oil on canvas.
11 Pieter Withoos (1654-1693): Leaf with five butterflies, a wasp and two flies, watercolor with brush.
12 To Utagawa Kunisada (1786-1865): Bunya no Yasuhide from the series Parody of Six Poets, 1845, color woodcut on paper.
14 Jan Asselijn (1610-1652): The Threatened Swan, 1640, oil on canvas.
15 Jacob Cats (1741-1799): Landscape with Angler, 1768, etching on paper.
16 Willem Claesz Heda (1594-1680): Still Life with Gilded Goblet, 1635, oil on panel.
17 Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675): The Milkmaid, 1660, oil on canvas.
18 Floris Claesz van Dijck (1575-1651): Still Life with Cheeses, 1615, oil on panel. A Personal Stamp of this also exists.
19 Anonymous artist: Tile panel from the Orphanage in Sommelsdijk, 1725, faience.
20 Willem Bartel van der Kooi (1768-1836): Disturbed Piano Playing, 1813, oil on canvas.
21 Bartholomeus van der Helst (1613-1670): Gerard Andriesz Bicker, 1640, oil on panel.
22 Piero di Cosimo (1462-1522): Portrait of Giuliano da Sangallo, 1482, oil on panel.
24 Johannes Cornelisz Verspronck (1600-1662): Portrait of a girl in blue, oil on canvas.
Democratization of the Rijksmuseum's art collection
Designer Boom found inspiration for the design of this sheet in the swipe culture of smartphones and tablets. Using the swipe technique, visitors can easily scroll through images of the new Rijksmuseum website on their screens. The designer truly hopes that everyone will do so. Her interactive remark reads: “My hope is that everyone will wander around the Rijks site!” A perforated grid has been placed (descended) over the five fixed smartphone and/or tablet images, meaning that five stamp images each possess one and a half artworks, while the five remaining stamps (with one exception) have to make do with two fragments of art objects.Part of a larger whole
The 'part of a larger whole' perspective occurs frequently with this stamp subject, namely in:- the cutouts, which (according to the designer) reveal a striking detail of the artwork,
- with the stamp, which show 1½ or two parts of a work of art, resulting in automatic image cropping per stamp,
- with the stamp sheet, which shows only a part of the enormous museum collection,
- with the user/visitor of smartphones and tablets, who views a part of the images on the smartphone and tablet,
- for the visitor to the Rijksmuseum, who can only see a part of the total museum collection in a single day. The visual 'hunger' is eventually satisfied by fatigue.
From the overview above, it is abundantly clear that almost all artworks date from the 17th century. Three objects date from an earlier period and six from a later one.
It'll probably be art again.
Unfortunately, tastes differ.
These are indeed mutilated stamps again, which you really shouldn't call stamps. But there is a glimmer of hope. PostNL, through Ard Korporaal, has promised improvement. During the philatelic meeting yesterday at Burgers' Zoo, he lifted the veil slightly on the issuance program for the second half of 2013. I must say, I saw only beautiful (and complete) stamps there.
'@ Bate: No, I don't have a smartphone or tablet and I'm not going to buy one either. I'd rather buy a stamp album for my hobby.
Such a long story in difficult language can be written about every new issue, but in my view, they remain poorly designed stamps because of the perforations that are 'shot' through them yet again.
I hope there are readers who have managed to find the missing reproduction number 11 (Japanese color woodcut on paper) by Utagawa Kunisada on Google. Please forward your response to batehijlkema@hetnet.nlThank you in advance for your cooperation.
Whether the selection is as representative as the press release suggests is questionable regarding the subjects:
* Still lifes 7, 8, 10, 16, 18 & 19
* single portrait 1, 4, 17, 21, 22 & 24
* group portrait 2, 5, 9, 20 & 23
* landscape 6, 9, 13 & 15
I think that collectors abroad, when they come across a stamp, first think they have a mis-perforation in their hands, only to find out later that the postal service has 'willfully' 'mutilated' the stamps.
'@ Marcel: PostNL is going to mend its ways, I was made aware yesterday. In the second half of the 2013 issuance program, these kinds of monstrosities will no longer occur!
'@Willem,
Lift the veil a little for us too! 🙂
I'm not going to waste any more words on this travesty, what a disaster. I'm sitting behind my laptop with my toes curling; how in God's name did anyone approve this and who is going to justify it? Come on, come on, bring it on, as Youp would say, just explain it to me and the readers. Probably signed a long contract they can't get out of. A total mutilation and destruction that the artist leaves behind for us. Designer and approver, swim across the horizon and wave goodbye and never look back, get lost and stay away. Ugh, and my day hasn't even started yet!!!!
'@I sympathize with you AADB
Bate@Well, it is annoying, isn't it, that you keep having to respond to these kinds of products. My always humble opinion is that a stamp is torn or taken from a sheet, booklet, or card and affixed to a card or envelope, and that a bit of promotion for your country and a possible personal/advertising message can be conveyed in the process. Whether or not you own a smartphone, laptop, phone, or tablet, it is of no concern to the sender of the postal item (Hema); tearing, sticking, sending—that is what it is about, and my message should be clear: I want complete and nothing else.
Personally, I do appreciate a bit of variety in the way things are displayed on stamps. It is always fascinating to see what a designer does with a commission. I can certainly understand this designer's approach to presentation. That swiping is certainly contemporary, but ensure a better layout or sequence where the main subject of the painting remains intact on the stamp. So... how is it possible to show such a fantastic glass slide by Jacob Olie from 1910 titled “Vivi, dressed in a red dress in a forest” in this way? Vivi (and that is what matters to me) is on the tab. So when the stamp is affixed to a letter without the tab, the recipient (possibly an art connoisseur and Rijksmuseum enthusiast) will wonder where that Vivi has gone...
Or did the designer want to leave her mark on the sheet using her surname? “Cannot see the paintings for the TREES” could be a great title for the sheet.
I had actually expected the painting “The Mill at Wijk van Duurstede” by Jacob van Ruijsdael to be on one of the stamps. In hindsight, I am glad that is not the case, because after all that swiping, what would “The Mill at Wijk bij Duurstede” be without “The Mill at Wijk bij Duurstede”.....
Then the painting “The Threatened Swan” by Jan Asselijn comes into its own better. The stamp clearly shows what the main subject of the painting is. That was well thought out. Another point I don't understand is that the painting “Cypresses” by Hendrik Voogd appears on a stamp for the second time (after 2002). I wonder if the designer (or client) did her homework properly. There is so much beauty to see in the museum that has not yet appeared on a stamp. The same actually applies to The Night Watch, but I can follow that line of reasoning. That painting remains the number one crowd-puller, after all. For the maximalist, however, it is a challenge once again. They show the entire painting by means of a maximal card and support and clarify the stamp image. Unfortunately, that is necessary for most of the stamps on this sheet. Swipe… and we continue.
Ronald@ with a hole punch like that you can make the weirdest antics, we can still spin in circles, triangles, from left to right from top to bottom hands up and hands down a carnival hit is born .
Maximum card collectors can buy the complete image and make holes in it with hole punches so that the remaining part that needs to be torn off can be used as an entrance ticket to the Rijksmuseum. And L.Reiz, what a nice site! Readers, type in the name Reiz and the world of paintings will open up for you.
It is indeed a pity about the perforation right through the images. The new Collect (75) features the 1001 Women sheets and the Europa stamps.
@AADB I think that will make you happy. By the way, I am curious what Postnl.nl has revealed for the second half of the year. Can anyone comment on that?
Willem@ those women's stamps immediately nominated for first place most beautiful stamps 2013 and the Europa a good third, because Our Majesty will surely win it with her son.
It seems so to me. In short, clarity, value, and country name + complete image—that is what matters.
Where is the tip of the veil regarding the second half of 2013?
Bunya no Yasuhidede, the colour woodcut on paper(12), has now also been included in the list of reproductions.