Here are my two personal discoveries in the artistic Amsterdam – the Museum Card and Dutch painter Samuel van Hoogstraten.
First, let me tell you about this painter of the Dutch Golden Age – Samuel van Hoogstraten – I am sure you never heard of him. Never have I. And it's a pitty because he is (was) one of the most successful students of Rembrandt van Rijn.
Reducing his biography to only the main milestones in his life, I will say that he was born in 1627 in Dordrecht, a city in the province Sout-Holand in Western Netherlands. At the age of 16 (!) he moved to Amsterdam to study painting at the workshop of Rembrandt. After only four years of studies, he left the workshop and started his own artistic career. At that time Samuel van Hoogstraten was only 20 years old.
This here (photo below) is one of the student's stations in Rembrandt's workshop – now Rembrandt House Amsterdam.
Honestly, this artist had a very rich biography... with a lot of scant information. Shortly after he finished his studies at Rembrandt's studio and began his solo artistic career as a portraitist, he went on a long journey through Europe. He visited Germany, Austria, England, and Italy. – Everywhere he found success, recognition and fame. In Vienna he even had an audience with Emperor Ferdinand III who was greatly impressed by his art. (It's always a mistery to me how one gets to be introduced to a king!?)
As for van Hoogstraten's technique, painting style and subjects, we have to keep in mind that this artist was an experimenter who tried himself in different painting techniques and, as it seems to me, was an excellent chameleon of painting - adapting at the right time for the right client. But this is only my personal subjective observation.
Looking closely at his paintings at the Rembrandthaus, I noticed that the paintings he made while working under Rembrandt are different from his later works. Van Hoogstraten's early works have more warmth and... soul...
Two of his early paintings moved me deeply – his self-portrait and a portrait of a young man with the books and a extinguished candle.
So many layers, details, microscopic accents of light... so much work!!!
And of course, the most significant, as it seems to me, of van Hoogstraten's works is the his Old Man in the Window, one of his late works (below)
If you ever go to see his works you won't regret it. Van Hoogstraten is a very solid painter of the Dutch Golden Age. His works have a lot of perspective, air, optical effects, symbols, in a word – they have everything that can impress.
I went to see him in Rembrandt House in Amsterdam... I know that many musseums have his paintings in their collections – Vienna, Moscow, Amsterdam, London...
Speaking of museums... I don't want to seem shallow, but... – I am a proud holder of the Museum Card Amsterdam now! Congratulations to me! Thank you, thank you!
Yes, just FYI if you ever in Amsterdam for more than three museum visits you might want to consider purchasing this card. It's called Museumkaart and you can buy in all "state run" museums for 75 Euro. And it's good for the whole year!
If you think about the price of a single museum visit for an adult (20–25€) then this card is a really good deal if you plan on visiting more than three museums.
To find out if you really might want this card you can check out what museums joined this program and if these museums are on your list then you should def consider purchasing this card.
