Amsterdam (Rough Guide) - Martin Dunford [195]
Simon Schama The Embarrassment of Riches: An Interpretation of Dutch Culture in the Golden Age. Long before his reinvention on British TV, Schama had a reputation as a specialist in Dutch history, and this chunky volume draws on a huge variety of archive sources. Also by Schama, Patriots and Liberators: Revolution in the Netherlands 1780–1813 focuses on one of the less familiar periods of Dutch history and is particularly good on the Batavian Republic set up in the Netherlands under French auspices. Both are heavyweight tomes, and leftists might well find Schama too reactionary. See also Schama’s Rembrandt’s Eyes.
Andrew Wheatcroft The Habsburgs. Excellent and well-researched trawl through the family’s history, from eleventh-century beginnings to its eclipse at the end of World War I. Enjoyable background reading.
Manfred Wolf (ed.) Amsterdam: A Traveler’s Literary Companion. Published by an independent American press, Whereabout Press, these anthologies aim to get to the heart of the modern cities they cover, and this well-chosen mixture of travel pieces, short fiction and reportage does exactly that, uncovering a low-life aspect to the city of Amsterdam that exists beyond the tourist brochures. A high-quality and evocative selection, and often the only chance you’ll get to read some of this material in translation. Published in 2001.
Books |
Art and architecture
Svetlana Alpers Rembrandt’s Enterprise. Intriguing 1988 study of Rembrandt, positing the theory – in line with findings of the Leiden-based Rembrandt Research Project – that many previously accepted Rembrandt paintings are not his at all, but merely the products of his studio. Bad news if you own one.
Anthony Bailey A View of Delft. Concise, startlingly well-researched book on Vermeer, complete with an accurate and well-considered exploration of his milieu.
R.H. Fuchs Dutch Painting. As complete an introduction to the subject – from Flemish origins to the present day – as you could wish for, in just a couple of hundred pages. First published in the 1970s, but still the classic text. o/p
Walter S. Gibson Hieronymus Bosch and Bruegel. Two wonderfully illustrated Thames & Hudson titles on these two exquisite allegorical painters. The former contains everything you wanted to know about Hieronymus Bosch, his paintings and his late fifteenth-century milieu, while the latter takes a detailed look at Pieter Bruegel the Elder’s art, with nine well-argued chapters investigating its various components. Both published in the 1970s, but there has been nothing better yet. o/p
Melissa McQuillan Van Gogh. Extensive, in-depth look at Vincent’s paintings, as well as his life and times. Superbly researched and illustrated.
Simon Schama Rembrandt’s Eyes. Published in 1999, this erudite work received good reviews, but it’s very, very long – and often very long-winded.
Mariet Westerman An all-you-could-ever-want-to-know book about Rembrandt and a fascinating Art and Home: Dutch Interiors in the Age of Rembrandt, but this will cost £60 from Amazon.
Christopher White Rembrandt. White is something of a Rembrandt specialist, writing a series of books on the man and his times. Most of these books are expensive and aimed at the specialist art market, but this particular title is perfect for the general reader. Well illustrated plus a wonderfully incisive and extremely detailed commentary. Published in 1984, but still very much to the point.
Frank Wynne I was Vermeer: The Legend of the Forger who Swindled the Nazis. Amsterdam’s Han van Meegeren fooled everyone, including Hermann Goering, with his “lost” Vermeers, when in fact he painted them himself. This story of bluff, bluster and fine art is an intriguing tale no doubt, but Wynne’s newly published book, though extremely