Poetry of Everyday Life: the Art of the "Little Dutch"

From December 8 to January 8, the Fine Arts reading Room (No 306) hosts the book and illustrative exhibition "Poetry of Everyday life: the Art of the 'Little Dutch’" from the collection of fine documents of the National Library of Belarus.

The 17th century is considered the Golden Age of Holland, the highest flourishing in all spheres of life: economy and trade, science and education, culture and art. The Dutch victory over the powerful absolutist Spain in the national-religious wars (1572–1609 and 1621–1648) contributed to a rapid rise. Having obtained independence, Holland, being one of the smallest countries in Europe, turned into the richest and most powerful state before our eyes. In the 17th century, the University of Leiden opened here, where philosophers and scientists worked: Rene Descartes, Benedict Spinoza, Anthony van Leeuwenhoek. Art has reached unprecedented prosperity, a free art market has emerged, and there is an incredible demand for paintings. In the 17th century, a real painting boom began in Holland: for every thousand people in the small population of the country, there was one artist, and in total there were about two thousand artists of world-class skill! Such a large number of talented names who worked in one country during one century has no analogues to this day.

The main customers of the paintings were burghers, that is, ordinary citizens, craftspeople and even better-off peasants, who decorated the interiors of their homes with paintings. Focusing on the tastes of the public and losing customers in the person of crowned heads and church servants, the artists abandoned religious and mythological themes and turned to everyday images: everyday subjects, still lifes, city vistas. In the history of art, it is customary to call these masters the "Little Dutch", due to the chamber character of their creativity and the small size of the paintings designed to decorate the burgher houses. Their paintings are characterized by close attention to detail, subtlety of writing, beauty of color and light nuances, showing life without embellishment.

The exhibition features numerous reproductions of the paintings of the "Little Dutch". The exhibition is arranged in accordance with the genres in which the artists worked: everyday genre, still life, landscape, portrait and others. Among the most interesting works are "The Mistress and the Maid" by Pieter de Hooch, “A Treat to Oysters” by Gabriel Metsu, "A Glass of Lemonade" by Gerard Terborch, "Morning of a Young Lady" by Frans van Mieris the Elder, and "Revelers" by Jan Sten. Scenes of peasant life will appear in the works of Adrian van Ostade "Village musicians", "Battle".

It is worth seeing the amazing variety of famous still lifes of the "Little Dutch": "breakfasts", "desserts", "kitchen", "fish", "hunting" still lifes. Visitors will see images of luxurious dishes, delicious dishes, juicy fruits, floral splendor, broken game, and kitchen utensils… These images were captured by the masters of Dutch still life: Willem Kalf, Peter Klas, Willem Klas Heda, Jan Davids de Hem, Jan van Heysum and many others. The allegorical still lifes "vanitas" ("vanity of vanities"), filled with symbols that speak of the transience of earthly life and its inevitable end, deserve thoughtful contemplation. Traditional images here include a skull, withering flowers, rotten fruit, an hourglass, a dying candle, mirrors, and dilapidated book pages.…

The sense of poetry of simple motifs with dunes, windmills, seaports, plains, forests and hills is characteristic of the Dutch landscape of the 17th century. "Going for a country walk, admiring the surroundings, we often do not even guess that these pleasures were given to us by modest artists called the 'Little Dutch’", wrote the famous art critic Ernst Gombrich. Visitors will get acquainted with the works of landscape masters Jakob van Ruisdahl, Jan van Goyen, Meindert Hobbema, Albert Cuyp, Hendrik Averkamp, and the marinas of Jan Porsellis. You will be interested in the genre of "landscape with animals" by Paulus Potter.

Special attention will be drawn to reproductions of paintings by the great "little Dutchman" Jan Vermeer of Delft, who poetized images of everyday Dutch life and raised the domestic genre to an unsurpassed artistic level. "Girl with a letter", "Painter's workshop", "Girl with a pearl earring", "Maid with a jug of milk", "Astronomer" and "Geographer", presented in the exhibition, will delight with the play of light and shadow, bright color finds: ultramarine and many shades of yellow, the glow effect achieved using the camera obscura used by the master.

The exhibition is complemented by books and articles about the art of the "Little Dutch": studies by art historians E. Fechner, Yu. Tarasov, Yu. Kuznetsov, N. Getashvili, E. Rotenberg, which help to reveal the secrets of the skill of these outstanding artists.

The opening hours of the exhibition corresponds to the library’s opening hours.
Entrance to the exhibition is available by the library ticket or ticket of the library's social and cultural center.

For more info: (+375 17) 293 27 53.

The material is provided by the Special Collections Service Department.