DOI article:
Wood, T. Martin: The gift of Dutch pictures to South Africa
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.43452#0286
Dutch Pictures for South Africa
the destiny of South Africa first came together
without rivalry.
In the light of the aims that pre-occupy the
minds of the present generation of painters, Dutch
painting of the seventeenth century has an enhanced
value and a value that will always tend to increase.
For one thing it will never again be possible for
realism to be absolutely unselfconscious; the
presence of the science of photography has put an
end to that. Moreover, though the attention of
modern painters has been attracted to the same
themes that attracted the Dutch painters, the
interpretation is in another spirit.
Perhaps there is no art in the world which
shows quite such an acute consciousness of material
beauty as Dutch art. The common phrase or
description of a scene as being of “ unheard-of
beauty ” fits in with nothing that the artists of
Holland describe, but their art is a wonderiul in-
ventory of every-day things that are beautiful.
We have used the word “Dutch” up to the
present almost entirely, but
the art of Flanders is also
of spirituality, and, except that the extreme zest ot
the Dutch appreciation of material appearances
partakes by its very intensity of the character of a
spiritual fervour, their absolute contentment with
things that are fascinating to look at and handle,
silver cups and rich cloths, would savour of worldly
complacency.
It is just in this zest and in this fervour that
we should seek for the strength of the impulse
by which the Dutch painters were able to transform
an inventory into the most eloquent description of
the charm of every-day things ever uttered. It
is safe to say that the art of the Netherlands and of
Flanders renovated the vision of civilised men,
adding immensely to their consciousness of the
beauty of every-day surroundings, thus forming the
base upon which the most delicate realism, both of
modern impressionist painting and of the art
of modern novel-writers, has raised itself to its
present pitch of expressiveness. All our refine-
ments in this direction rest upon the solid founda-
represented in this collec-
tion. Dutch and Flemish
arts are as unlike as brother
and sister, but yet again
alike in this relationship,
and distinct from every-
thing of other countries.
The Flemish temperament
is feminine compared with
the Dutch, it is infinitely
more sensitive, whilst it
is sensitive to the same
things. It is more re-
ligious, not only in subject
but in the approach to the
subject; more romantic
and less matter-of-fact.
But the strength of the
Dutch school is its matter-
of-factness, its exquisite
truthfulness and precision
of representation, the
miraculous clarity of its
vision—so clear that colour
and outline have an in-
tensity in this art which
shames all other artistic
representations into a
comparative vagueness.
But things are always
vague upon the border-line
PORTRAIT OF A LADY IN GREY AND RED
BY NICOLAS MAES
275
the destiny of South Africa first came together
without rivalry.
In the light of the aims that pre-occupy the
minds of the present generation of painters, Dutch
painting of the seventeenth century has an enhanced
value and a value that will always tend to increase.
For one thing it will never again be possible for
realism to be absolutely unselfconscious; the
presence of the science of photography has put an
end to that. Moreover, though the attention of
modern painters has been attracted to the same
themes that attracted the Dutch painters, the
interpretation is in another spirit.
Perhaps there is no art in the world which
shows quite such an acute consciousness of material
beauty as Dutch art. The common phrase or
description of a scene as being of “ unheard-of
beauty ” fits in with nothing that the artists of
Holland describe, but their art is a wonderiul in-
ventory of every-day things that are beautiful.
We have used the word “Dutch” up to the
present almost entirely, but
the art of Flanders is also
of spirituality, and, except that the extreme zest ot
the Dutch appreciation of material appearances
partakes by its very intensity of the character of a
spiritual fervour, their absolute contentment with
things that are fascinating to look at and handle,
silver cups and rich cloths, would savour of worldly
complacency.
It is just in this zest and in this fervour that
we should seek for the strength of the impulse
by which the Dutch painters were able to transform
an inventory into the most eloquent description of
the charm of every-day things ever uttered. It
is safe to say that the art of the Netherlands and of
Flanders renovated the vision of civilised men,
adding immensely to their consciousness of the
beauty of every-day surroundings, thus forming the
base upon which the most delicate realism, both of
modern impressionist painting and of the art
of modern novel-writers, has raised itself to its
present pitch of expressiveness. All our refine-
ments in this direction rest upon the solid founda-
represented in this collec-
tion. Dutch and Flemish
arts are as unlike as brother
and sister, but yet again
alike in this relationship,
and distinct from every-
thing of other countries.
The Flemish temperament
is feminine compared with
the Dutch, it is infinitely
more sensitive, whilst it
is sensitive to the same
things. It is more re-
ligious, not only in subject
but in the approach to the
subject; more romantic
and less matter-of-fact.
But the strength of the
Dutch school is its matter-
of-factness, its exquisite
truthfulness and precision
of representation, the
miraculous clarity of its
vision—so clear that colour
and outline have an in-
tensity in this art which
shames all other artistic
representations into a
comparative vagueness.
But things are always
vague upon the border-line
PORTRAIT OF A LADY IN GREY AND RED
BY NICOLAS MAES
275