The KAREL VAN MANDER ACADEMY (Arnhem) offers guidelines for the description and cataloguing of cultural objects
The Karel van Mander Academy (Arnhem) is a group of scholars, who offer ready to use guidelines for the description of art, architecture, and develop conceptual frameworks and instruments for cataloguing works of art and other cultural objects. By offering project consulting we support the thoughtful application of digital tools and methodologies to humanistic inquiry. We promote (digital) research across all arts and humanities disciplines, but our focal point is the study of art from the Low Countries (The Netherlands and Flanders).
We are not just another network group of researchers who are interested in how the use of digital tools is transforming scholarship in the humanities. As a study group and individual stakeholders in the initiatives of the Karel van Mander Academy we are very concerned with the cultural and social impact of the rapid development of new media for the humanities. We not only actively mediate between computing and humanities, but also strive for the preservation and survival of existing research methods and classification models by integrating them in digital environments.
For this reason we make a clear distinction between the actual cultural objects (and phenomena) and their digital ‘shadows’, images or descriptions which tend to represent them as nothing more than a diagram or an schematic outline of a single entity. A two-dimensional digital representation can never replace a physical and multi-faceted object, and an unclear distinction between the two could lead to confusing and inaccurate research. We therefore try to define the complex relationship between cultural objects / works of art and their reprentations, while mapping contextual backgrounds and relations amongst objects and places, people and artistic milieus and movements (artists, clients, patrons, art critics, art theorists, and cultural entrepreneurs).
Furthermore we aim to provide easy and sustainable access for both scholars and general users to all kinds of resources of (digital and analog) data in the humanities by developing much-needed data resources, storage means, and advanced tools to consult, explore, analyse, interpret, annotate, or combine information. The purpose of the Karel van Mander Academy is to strengthen research, education and communication in the fields of the Arts, Cultural Heritage and the Digital Humanities.
At present our discussion group that meets in Arnhem is not a company in the sense of a business or commercial enterprise, though in the near future inspiration from the crowd may contribute to startup ideas. Membership can be requested through our linkedin page. (A connection with Arnhem is not required.)
by Margreet van der Hut (2020)
Adriaen van de Velde
De Passieserie uit 1664
Robert Schillemans
T his new book by Robert Schillemans, former curator of Museum our Lord in the Attic in Amsterdam, deals with Adriaen van de Velde (1636-1672), who in 1664 painted five Passion scenes for the Amsterdam attic church ‘het Hart’. After years of wandering, this cycle has finally come home to the church for which it was painted. This former place of worship, together with the canal house beneath, is known as Museum Our Lord in the Attic (Museum Ons’ Lieve Heer op Solder).
T he return of the Passion Series prompted further investigation. Which of the trio determined the style, use of color and finish of the paintings? Was it a ‘catholic rush job’ or did the plague that prevailed in 1664 play a role? This book examines these issues from different angles.
The Eighth Part in the Karel van Mander Academy Visual Heritage Series
ISBN 978-90-9036361-5 (hardcover) 132 pp. (language: Dutch)
THE WINNER WHO LOST THE GAME (nl)
The exciting life and mysterious death of Martinus van der Hut, screenwriter of the first Dutch sound film "His Belooning" and the successful play "The winner who lost the game".
The dizzying life story of the all-rounder Martinus van der Hut (1899-1937) begins and ends with the column 'Moeders Zorgen' (Mother's Worries) written by him. As usual, the young family man, as editor of the Catholic daily De Tijd, wrote his column at his home on 26 July 1937 and then read it to his wife as a test audience. This time, however, his writing fell into bad soil with her, which should not be surprising. His column, which was otherwise so light-hearted, was about a mother who is left behind with their four young daughters after the sudden death of her husband. The next day Martinus himself would die in what was called a traffic accident. What to say about this mystery of a death foretold?
EUR 19,95
ISBN 98-90-831031-6-7
softcover
“The Three Crowned Hammers"
History of a Zaandam forge 1676-2022
In 2022, the “Drie Gekroonde Hamers” smithy will leave the Hogendijk street in Zaandam for a new location. This metalworking company is the last of the countless ship forges that in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries had sprung up along the Zaan, where once dozens of shipyards were located. The building’s orginal transom or “deurkalf” in the alley next to the blacksmith’s workshop attests to the fact that the building was built here in 1676.
This book contains the answer to the question who the owners of this forge were from 1676 onward and offers an impression of the nineteenth-century Hogendijk as a tourist attraction, boosted by the Czar Peter House (“Czaar Peterhuisje”) on the path ’t Krimp behind it. The history of Zaandam and the surrounding Zaan River region (Zaanstreek) is intimately tied to industry. In the Dutch Golden Age, Zaandam served as a large milling and shipbuilding centre, and it was also historically linked with the whaling industry.
Zaandam became a leading city during the first Industrial Revolution but then a steady decline began. Changing circumstances forced many artisans to earn their living in other ways, and a tourism industry began to flourish. Against this background, a chronicle of the life and work of four generations of the Kaaijk blacksmith family in the period 1890-2018 is presented and a historical overview of the blacksmithing and forging work of the past 345 years is presented.
“De Drie Gekroonde Hamers”
Geschiedenis van een Zaanse smederij 1676-2022
The Sixth Part in the Karel van Mander Academy Visual Heritage Series
Author:
Margreet van der Hut
ISBN 978-90-831031-4-3 (hardcover)
Dutch
Het kunstkabinet van Petronella de la Court
(The Art Cabinet of Petronella de la Court)
OUT NOW
Petronella de la Court (Leiden, 1624 - Amsterdam, 1707) lived from 1657 in the De Swaen brewery in Amsterdam. She furnished her house lavishly with works of art and exotic objects from nature. With her true-to-life dollhouse and collections she attracted visitors from far and wide. In addition to paintings, drawings and prints, cabinet sculptures, porcelain and curiosities, she also owned atlases and books on geography which she used to trace the provenance of the artifacts she collected.
This book contains a reconstruction of her painting collection, sculpture cabinet and shell collection and an inventory of her porcelain collection. These collections show a complex coherence that proves that Petronella was a true collector who could compete with other well-known collectors of her time.
The Fifth Part in the Karel van Mander Academy Visual Heritage Series
Author:
Margreet van der Hut
ISBN 978-90-831031-3-6 (hardcover)
Dutch
Jan van Mieris was the eldest son and pupil of the renowned Dutch fijnschilder Frans van Mieris I (1635-1681), who in turn had studied under Gerard Dou (1613-1675) and Abraham van den Tempel (1622-1672). Jan and his younger brother Willem (1662-1747) followed in their father’s footsteps by continuing the Leiden fijnschilder tradition. As a consequence distinguishing between their work – and that of other illustrious relatives – can be a challenge. Virtually every painting in the catalog was once attributed to Frans I, or Willem, or even to Willem’s son Frans II (1689-1763). Jan van Mieris, who was also a gifted poet, not only wrote a small oeuvre of poems but also several partially rhymed versions of the pastoral play Aminta by Torquato Tasso (1544-1595) in Dutch. They are preserved in a manuscript in Leiden University Library.
In this book Jan van Mieris’ oeuvre finally receives the attention it deserves. The catalogue raisonné contains 41 paintings. portraits, genre pieces and history paintings, seven drawings and three mezzotints after his paintings. This study is helpful in understanding the double talent of the young painter who made Horatius’ device ‘Ut Pictura Poesis’ (as is painting so is poetry) his own.
The Fourth Part in the Karel van Mander Academy Visual Heritage Series
Author:
Margreet van der Hut
ISBN 978-90-831031-1-2 (hardcover)
GAMEGESCHIEDENIS VAN NEDERLAND 1978-2018
Book with first complete overview of Dutch game history
History of Video Games in the Netherlands 1978-2018
GAMEGESCHIEDENIS VAN NEDERLAND 1978-2018 is the first complete overview of the history of videogames from the Netherlands in book form. From Jazz Jackrabbit to Killzone and from A2 Racer to Ridiculous Fishing, all well-known and lesser known games from the Netherlands are covered. The games are used to look at the historical development of the Dutch game industry, in which educational software in particular has set the tone.
Author:
Tom Lenting
Tom Lenting, author of the book, explains: “There are several substantial overviews of the international history of video games. However, these international surveys do not focus on games from the Netherlands, which is understandable given the large global market for games and the dominance of countries such as Japan, the United States and Great Britain in the game industry. An overview of the game history of the Netherlands was missing and this book aims to fill this gap.”
The book is for sale for € 19.99 and can be ordered via karelvanmanderacademy@outlook.com.
(ISBN: 978-90-9031716-8)
Language: Dutch
Karel van Mander Academy (Arnhem): in-house projects and digital tools
Together with various colleagues and partners of the KVMA, we are committed to:
1.) catologuing collections and galleries of portraits of nobility from territories that were once part of the Holy Roman Empire (Project: POTENS: Portraits and Titulature of European Nobility Search).
2.) art historical research into the world of the Dutch children's book and its illustrators (Project: Ingeprent).
3.) editing and publishing (artist) monographs and overviews with regard to Dutch visual culture and patronage (KVMA Series for Visual Heritage in the Netherlands), varying from seventeenth-century dolls' houses to computer game history (Project: HiDuViGa: History of Dutch Videogames).
The depiction and imagination of the child in Dutch children’s books (c. 1800 - c. 1850)
Project Managers: Joop van Leeuwen & Rudie van Leeuwen
Goal
An overview of ways of depicting children in illustrations of Dutch children’s books from the first half of the nineteenth century
Project Managers: Rudie van Leeuwen & Lilian Ruhe
Portraits and Titulature of European Nobility Search
Targets of Potens
connecting existing databases with information and portraits of European nobility
developing an easy access and user friendly (re)search tool
developing a web interface (with federated and faceted search)
developing a publisher for inventories and transcriptions
network visualisation of provenance research
ARTCHIVARIS: internet archive for visual arts and architecture
Here you will find an overview of websites with documentation, source or visual material intended for art historians; freely accessible journals, sites of research institutes (museums / universities), as well as pages of study and professional associations. Other types of initiatives are included if they have an academic content and / or provide visual material (free / systematized). Commercial agencies and events are not included. All sites have an art-historical or art-theoretical content and are not aimed at unreasoned artistry.
Rembrandt and His World of 1966 Christopher White wrote: 'Rembrandt's bibliography is vast. There can be few artists about whom more has been written.' Indeed, the Rembrandt bibliography is immense... especially considering that since 1966 the Rembrandt literature has at least tripled. This online publication is a modest attempt to compile a basic list of publications on Rembrandt and his art. At this time it can not even be pretended that this list is a representative summary or select bibliography containing all substantial historical contributions on the artist. Hence, it is better to speak of a Bibliographical Work in Progess... Colleagues, forgive my omissions. Additions / corrections are welcome at remdoc[at]hotmail.nl