Dutch Art & Design Today

'When I have an idea for a next drawing, I only draw for that drawing. But never in the weekend do I think, “I’m bored, let’s draw.” I never do that. And the reason why, I found out, is that drawing is also consuming of all my concentration. It’s real work. Every little detail has to be on it. I love that, because without the details, my drawings could be somewhere else. But they’re not somewh...

‘I like these kind of large topics that tell us a lot about the history of our discipline; about the history of taste; about the history of art history, basically. Part of what I want to highlight with my research, is that we have a certain perception of how a pictorial tradition—as Titian, Tintoretto, Rubens—ended up disfavored at a certain point in history, or apparently fell out of favor... Fra...

'I got tired of the relentless four corners of everyone's social media posts—and so the way to formally get around that, if you can't eliminate them, is to, you know; add about 10,000 corners to a work. Which seemed like a great approach, which I've stayed with, because what it allows me to do is activate the negative space. And the fact that the positive space is animated means th...

'Oftentimes when you see digital art, it feels unrooted. It feels like it’s hard to place, especially if you’re coming out of the tradition. And what I always say is—if you want to be a part of the tradition, you have to have a conversation with the tradition. And the most simplest way of having a conversation with the tradition is actually bringing up some of those works.' —Adrian Pocobelli For t...

‘I think it’s our duty as a museum to address social issues, whether they’re in the past, or whether they’re happening now, because we have a societal role. We’re here for society… Art is about people. It’s about working together. It’s about how we look at each other, how we understand the world, and how we open our minds to what is unfamiliar. That’s what a museum should do.’ —Lidewij de Koekkoek...

'When I think about Rembrandt, I think of Rembrandt as dramatic. There's a drama. An emotional something's going on; the dark colors; a three-dimensional pull into it. And that three-dimensional pull, pulls me as a person into what is going on. And I have an emotional response to being in that scene—whatever it is. So there's something about Rembrandt that is guttural; you know? I...

'Language is so important, and particularly right now; especially when differentiating the Dutch Republic from the Southern Netherlands in the seventeenth century. Not only in terms of what that meant politically, but also religiously, and how these factors influenced the way the art produced then and there, looks. I've found that when speaking to museum visitors, they would often use the...

‘We are a very vibrant country; Curaçao. But we are so much more than these cliches that pervade in mainstream thought about the Caribbean. There’s real struggles here. Real injustice and economic disparity. And it has to do with our past. But a lot of progress has been made… My art seeks to show the average Curaçaoan; the fisherman at Playa Piskadó; Carnival; Tumba performers, who have their root...

'Spinoza is a great portal to the Dutch Republic; because with Spinoza you have to look at Jewish Amsterdam in the seventeenth century. And if you start looking at Amsterdam in the seventeenth century, you’re drawn to the art. If you’re drawn to the art you become aware of the social and economic context. It’s really like looking through the looking glass. Once you’re in, you’re in.’ —Steven N...

'Back in 2006, or 2007, I painted a kind of a landscape, in a very liquid way; sometimes abstract and sometimes realistic. But I would always add details, like a cow in the foreground watching its shed or hut, standing in a puddle of water. And the cow, in that work, is standing on the hill. But can't go back to the hut... And what I like about that painting, is that there are different le...

'Habsburgs loved their animals. As we do today. They're no different than us. They went to great lengths, to get their horses, dogs, cheetahs, their elephants... and that's always fun. I want to make history fun, inspiring, and alive. It doesn't have to just be wars and politics. These people had lives. They had their loves; and their children. So how can we make that, and their do...

'What's left to do? To keep people interested in old art. To make that art interesting and relevant. Perhaps relevant isn’t the right word… But if you look at the art market; the biggest money, right now, is in modern and contemporary art. You see it in auction houses, too. The content of the sales is different than it was 20 years ago. Old Masters remain a challenge. But then, you'll...

'I understand the anger from a lot of people around AI. I had the same. The first time I saw AI, it made me very angry—at the whole development. I thought: what is this ? But I also thought: how can I have such a strong opinion about AI, if I don't know what it , is? So I decided to dig into it and explore it. That's the only way to know what you're talking about... Before my work...

'In digital fashion, craftsmanship has moved from knowing how to work with leather, or how to embroider physically. But I think the craftsmanship that’s done in digital fashion is the same if not more than the time spent crafting physical fashion. So, the craftsmanship of the traditional fashion industry is still present in the digital fashion industry; it’s just that digital fashion designers...

'What I'm predominately interested in, is telling stories of people that might have been overlooked. But you have to be very careful. Because not everyone has the same starting point or opinion on topics that you might want to discuss—for example, if it's about gender, a queer perspective, or a decolonial perspective. I want to present a story that feels respectful to everyone who visi...

'In the early-seventeenth century, group portraiture was about social relationships that were the topic of such paintings. And in the late-nineteenth century, visual language in painting was a little more open; a little more abstract. So for me, the canvas is like a stage of happenings that play out on a global level. And that's the reason that my large-scale canvases tend to look like the...

'I'm really interested in contemporary art because it can be anything. And I know that that's very off-putting for some people. When it comes to artistic movements; you have a lot of different styles that are very particular and very stylized and very identifiable. When it comes to contemporary art, you don't really have that as much, because the whole basis of contemporary art is...

‘For the nineteenth century, Dutch artists had to try to emulate artists from the seventeenth century. It was the standard that they had to try and find. And if they exhibited in Paris, that’s also what the critic said: "this is like a Ruisdael; that’s like a Rembrandt; he’s doing a very good imitation of that artist." And that’s something they had to fight against, or overcome. And that...

'...I was always more drawn to modern art. But I love all art. I'll go to any museum; whether they show ancient or modern art. But I specialized in modern art, because it's always excited me; like its new ways of making, new ways of viewing things. That's always fascinated me. And I was always, during my studies, always writing about new art and avant-garde art. Surrealism was a hu...

‘…And this gave me; I think it gave me; not just the knowledge of that medium and the specific period of time. But also the conviction, that if you put your mind to it, and take a little time—that in a year or two you’ll be a specialist too. Don’t ever let anyone tell you you cannot be a specialist; even if you haven’t studied something in previous years. You can always be a specialist.’ —Christi...

'The Teylers is a natural history museum, and up until the nineteenth century collected all kinds of beautiful books on birds. And one of those books is about doves—and Pauline de Courcelles made the illustrations for that book, and became very famous for it. We didn't have any drawings by her in the collection... She specialized in bird drawings. And there are not so many drawings by her...

'Lots of artists from the Southern Netherlands migrated to Haarlem, and Haarlem really became a breeding ground for new artistic genres. So I would describe the Haarlem school as being very innovative in a way. And that happened early on; even earlier than the early sixteenth century... There was something in the Haarlem climate that made artists come here... there are beautiful surroundings o...

'In the case of, like, you know, the Rembrandts or a Clara Peeters—where these figures or still lifes are just emerging from darkness. And, really bold color uses on top of... you know, very dark... deep. There's a lot of depth. Basically, it's like, the browner and darker it is with hints of gold and pop—up front—that seem to disappear into the background. That might be, a Dutch Golde...

'Vogue has become a really strong brand because of its consistency. Because of its consistency... editorially, but also in regards to its graphics. Frame is a much smaller publication—but it has become a strong brand because of its inconsistency; because of its... always trying to be different; always trying to find new ways to express thoughts. You can go many ways when you make a magazine, a...

Art and design, from the Netherlands. 'Dutch Art & Design Today' is a new show hosted by John Bezold, which explores these two worlds and those working within them. From publishers and artists, to designers and curators, painters and podcasters; this podcast takes listeners behind the scenes of their work, to find out why Dutch art and design is so highly regarded across cultures, and...