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The Magnificent Red Dancer
Red is a powerful colour. Red embraces our more positive emotions, but also embodies our concerns and anxiety. It can symbolize energy, action, power as well as love, passion, and beauty. Red, in daily life, is laden with symbolism, and no less so throughout the history of art. In Royal portraits, the monarch is often Read more
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Kees van Dongen: the exotic, erotic dancer
As a young man, the Dutch artist, Kees van Dongen travelled to Paris. He resided in Montmartre, living in a flat with a view of the Moulin de la Galette, the famous dance hall, from his rear window. The dance-halls, the circus, the cafés, the theatres all sparked Van Dongen’s imagination. His models were harlots, Read more
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Dance images inspired by the exotic: The oriental dancer
The oriental dancer has captured the hearts and imagination of many artists. This striking dancer, whether from Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco, Persia, or India to name but a few of her habitats, became a modish subject for paintings, ballets, films and literature. In the three previous posts I discussed a variety of dance images, made by Read more
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Marius Bauer : artist inspired by the exotic
Marius Bauer (1867-1932) is, without doubt, the best known Dutch orientalist. As a young lad, he delighted in the stories of A Thousand and One Nights. Bauer loved to travel, and travel he did, to the most faraway places. Sponsored by E.J. van Wisselingh, an art dealer in Amsterdam, Bauer, just on twenty-one, travelled to Read more
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Dance images inspired by the exotic: Whirling Dervishes
The whirling dervishes are mesmerizing. Tourists visiting Turkey flock to Konya, home of the Mevlevi, to experience the centuries old mystical whirling ritual. This ritual, now often seen as a popular tourist attraction, was originally and still is a religious celebration bound in spiritual symbolism. The dervishes, clad in white robes, best described as a Read more
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Dance images inspired by the exotic
Amsterdam, in the 17th century, was the hub of international trade. Grand tall-ships, from the Dutch East India Company, docked regularly at the harbour, laden with exotic merchandise, silks, spices, porcelain, textiles and other precious commodities. Amsterdam was a bustling city where merchants, legates and agents from many distant and mysterious countries were welcome, frequenting Read more
14th century 15th century 16th century 17th century 18th century 19th century 20th century 21st century Adriaen Brouwer Adriaen Pietersz. van de Venne Adriaen van Ostade Albrecht Dürer Alma-Tadema Anthonie Palamedesz. art Arthurian Legends Bal des Ardents ballet Bergen School Bernard Picart Burgundian Court CoBrA Constant Cornelis Dusart Cornelis Massijs dance Dance around the Golden Calf dancers David Ryckaert III David Teniers the Younger David Vinckboons De Stijl Egg dance Else Berg Erhard Schön Frans Francken II Frans Hals Frans Huysmans George Hendrik Breitner Gertrud Leistikow Gillis Mostaert Haarlem Hans Bol Hans Vredeman de Vries Harmen Meurs Henri Braakensiek Herman Bieling Hieronymus Bosch Hieronymus Francken the Younger illuminated manuscript Isaac Israels Isaac van Ostade Jacob Grimmer Jacob Savery I Jacobus van Looy Jan Brueghel the Elder Jan Mandijn & followers Jan Miense Molenaer Jan Sierhuis Jan Sluijters Jan Steen Jan Toorop Jean-Baptiste Vanmour Jean de Wavrin Jean Froissart Karel Appel Karel van Mander Kees Maks Kees van Dongen Leo Gestel Loyset Liédet Maarten van Heemskerck Maastricht Hours Marius Bauer Marten van Cleve Mommie Schwarz Mondrian Paolo Fiammingo/Pauwels Franck Pieter Aertsen Pieter Balten/Peeter Baltens Pieter Bruegel the Elder Pieter Brueghel the Younger Pieter Codde Pieter de Bloot Pieter van der Borcht Pieter van der Heyden Piet Mondrian Piet van der Hem Romance of Alexander Roman de la Rose Rothschild Canticles Salome Sebald Beham Simon Bening Tango Theo van Doesburg Toer van Schayk Vilmos Huszár Vincent van Gogh Willem de Zwart
About me
As a young aspiring dancer I loved to ponder over the magnificent paintings created by Edgar Degas. How his ballerinas inspired me. The atmosphere of the Paris Opera, the beautiful tutus and the hard working dancers never failed to trigger my imagination. As the years past, I retained my love of dance, of Degas, of art, and developed an interest in knowing more about the cross fertilization between art and dance.
DANCE IMAGES IN THE ART OF THE NETHERLANDS 