Winter

Hendrick Avercamp – Dutch Winter Scene on a Canal – 1585

Avercamp spent most of his life in the small quiet town of Kampen on the eastern shore of the Zuider Zee (now IJsselmeer). Residence relatively far from the principal artistic centre of the Netherlands helps to explain why this artist, who discovered the pictorial qualities of flat landscapes and was the first to specialize in winter scenes of outdoor sport and leisure, had little influence on the development of Dutch landscape paintings.
Avercamp's pictures peopled with motley crowds of all ages and classes skating, sledging, golfing, and fishing on the frozen canals of Holland fascinate social historians as well as art historians. The latter sometimes find him a troublesome painter, because it is difficult to trace his development. The plain fact seems to be that he did not have a marked one. From the very beginning he could paint a landscape with a high horizon, a great accumulation of detail, and a number of light colors, or one with a low horizon, few details, and vivid colors in the foreground which lighten as they recede to the distance. The two possibilities existed simultaneously and could be used at will until the end of his career, depending on either the artist's, or his patron's predilections.

(Sorry, Dutch again). But I need to make a small reply to my little nephew. It is stervens koud over here (very cold). We thank these Ladies for taking care of the poor and cold.
“Foor de homoseksuel’n met de kleine beurs bied’n wij hier een soort aanfullingspakket, soort pret-pakket”.

The Hell of ’63 is a recent Dutch movie about a famous local skating tour (11 sted’n tocht); about hongerklop and bevroren pisbuizen. I’ll first drop dead and then post this movie. This is ultimate Dutch horror. I guess the trailer will do for now.

Enjoy