So last weekend, my mom and I went off on this slightly crazy little trip I had organised to see an exhibition each in The Hague and Paris. We flew up to Amsterdam early on Saturday morning, took the train straight to The Hague and had some time to walk around and get familiar with this city again (I haven't been for a few years, and boy, have they been building new stuff there!). In the afternoon, we went to see this in the Mauritshuis: https://www.mauritshuis.nl/en/discover/exhibitions/royal-collection/ It was amazing! Mostly smaller interior scenes, one more beautiful than the other. It's just an endless fascination to me how these painters were able to convey the texture of fabrics and other materials - like no photo can. Like a fur-trimmed velvet jacket that looks almost three-dimensional, so masterfully was it painted. And of course, the Mauritshuis' own collection is chock-full with amazing masterpieces too! We stayed the night in The Hague and then took an early train to Rotterdam (just a short hop) to get on the high-speed train Thalys, which took us to Paris. Including breakfast served at our seats... how nice! Paris had this waiting for us this afternoon: http://www.palaisgalliera.paris.fr/en/exhibitions/anatomy-collection (check out the video at the bottom of the past for some view This was just so cool! This went from the 18th century to today, from Napoleon's frock coat to Gaultier's cone bust dress. You never knew what was next, and it was amazing to see what kind of people had all donated items to this museum. We took the TGV high-speed train back home in the evening. Ok, it was a bit late til we got home, but it was well worth it, and looking at what is coming up in exhibitions, we will probably repeat this in a few months!
Thank you for posting those links, Karin -- I watched all three videos at the Mauritshuis site (and caught a glimpse of the goldfinch in the second one), and enjoyed learning about the interpretation of everyday objects in several of the paintings. What an amazing time you must have had! It sounds totally amazing. Although the video is no substitute for the real thing, I was fascinated by the close-up work of the rug (in 'The Cello Player') as shown, and the camera obscura painting technique. I'm going to visit the Palais Galliera site now.
