April 30, 2016

100 days of Dutch things

Filed under: Design by Branko Collin @ 1:23 pm

jacqueline-storm-100-days-nl

Designer Jacqueline Storm has embarked on a project to make a drawing of a different iconic Dutch subject every day.

Some of her subjects such as wooden shoes and the king are perhaps a bit clichéd, but that makes it the more interesting to see if she can keep it up. How many things exist that simply scream ‘Dutch’? We’re about to find out.

Storm started her project on Facebook on 19 April and so far she has covered subjects ranging from Miffy to black liquorice to fries with mayonnaise to the national bird, the black-tailed godwit. At the time of writing she has created 12 drawings in the series.

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April 11, 2012

Stolen Greek icons found on Dutch website

Filed under: Art,Religion,Technology by Orangemaster @ 1:33 pm

The Greek authorities discovered icons stolen from a church in Greece in 2009 on the website of a Dutch art dealer who claims he didn’t know they were stolen.

The seven Greek icons, with values ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 euro, were seized by the police in April last year, placed in the Rijksmuseum for safe keeping, and handed over to the Greek Ministry of Culture on December 5, 2011. They date from the 18th and 19th centuries and play an important part in the country’s cultural and historical heritage.

The police explain that works of art are usually sold many years after they have been stolen, and so this discrepancy probably makes it sound like the dealer could be telling the truth. I’ve been told there are international sites to check and see if works or art have been stolen and then I would imagine that the dealer was not very knowledgeable in icons or is not telling the truth.

Even Wikipedia has a page of stolen works of art, with a few Dutch ones as well.

(Link: Trouw.nl, photo: politie.nl)

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January 17, 2009

Scrapwood Obama

Filed under: Art,Automobiles by Branko Collin @ 1:21 pm

Diederick Kraaijeveld makes art out of scrapwood, and he is exhibiting this wooden depiction of the next president of the USA, Barack Obama, at the Manifest Hope Washington in the American capital this weekend. Kraaijeveld who operates under the pseudonym Oud Hout (old wood) writes about the piece:

The tie of Obama was made of fishing boat wood, found on the beaches of Mombassa, Kenia.

I will take the work—all 120 centimeters of it—along with me on the plane as hand luggage which is cheaper than shipping it. Especially since the organisation was kind enough to provide sleeping arrangements in DC. This is a beautiful opportunity for somebody like me who once studied American History: to be present at a historical inauguration. No, I don’t expect to be in the front row.

Check the rest of the website where you’ll find a scrapwood Volkswagen Beetle, a scrapwood Porsche, a scrapwood Ruud van Nistelrooij, scrapwood Converse Allstars, and much more lovely iconopornography. Scrapwood: not just for furniture anymore.

Link: Trendbeheer (Dutch). Image edited to restore an approximation of the original by removing an unsightly watermark.

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