Rijksmuseum exhibition

"Everyone  photographed" was the slogan in 1900 that the Amsterdam photo trader Joan Guy the Coral encouraged the people to go photograph and buy a hand camera. At the end of the nineteenh century, it was mainly prosperous young people with an interest in new gadgets that brought the Netherlands to photograph. From their common interests as cycling, they founded associations, held soirees and went on excursions.

This is a photo dating from 1892 on board of a ship and shows how the amateurs made completely other photos of each other than the stately portraits so far.

There were many photoalbums exposed.

With very small photos.

And some old hand cameras of course.

Signs

In the middle of Amsterdam I saw this sign for cyclists with the distances to several destinations. Our domicile Almere takes 20 km on a bike. You can even cycle to Brussels in Belgium for a destination 330 km! Linking to "Signs, signs 2".

Trees

To cut down the trees in our home town Almere has no end it seems..

32 years old I counted.

That is all that is left.... Linking to "Our World Tuesday"

Monday Mural

I noticed this portrait at an abandoned flea market at the Waterloo square in Amsterdam.

Maybe not a real mural but it is open air art anyway. 

Linking to "Monday Mural"

A musical marvel

This virtuoso architectural bureau was made for Catherina the Great and they call it "Apollo and the arts, a musical marvel. The desk is equipped with a musical box and ingenious mechanisms and contains innumerable secret buttons, compartments and drawers.

Catherina was also enraptured. She paid the cabinetmaker 25.000 roubles for it and presented him with a gold snuff box. Although I think it is a rather pompous furniture I would have loved to hear the musics it can play.

More spring signs

Look now, a lamb with his mother at the Sheep farm in Almere.

It can't be that old.

Strolling around in the wintersun.

This could be dad.

Linking to "Saturday's Critters"

Blue

Blue skies again in Amsterdam. At the left the Townhall and in the background the Moses and Aaron Church. Linking to "Skywatch Friday"

Shells

In the Hermitage was another exhibition which had nothing to do with the treasures from St, Petersburg. This is an assemblage of various shells made by Pascal-Desir Maissonneuve in 1927. He called it the "Crown prince". 

This is the Tartar. More about the artist "here"

Spring sign

I couldn't believe my eyes yesterday to see something purple in the grass.

Crocuses! Nature is trying to tell us spring in the air!

Linking to "Signs, signs2"

Bus stop

Waiting at the bus station in Amsterdam. Linking to "Our World Tuesday"

Hermitage (2)

Had so many comments on yesterday's post, I'll show you some more items of the exhibition.

These gold treasures date from 2-nd-1st century BC and were found in Siberia.

Left is a Belt fastening: wolf doing battle with a snake.

In the middle a Belt plaque with boar hunt. Right is a Golden torque with beasts of prey.

Oil lamp made from a lumb of rock christal from Egypt. In the 16th Century the creatures were added by the Italians.

A mythical funerary horse's decoration. This funerary caparison and head gear was intented for a chieftain's horse.The gear transformed the animal into an impressive mythical beast.

All items were placed behind glass which makes the quality of photos a bit less.

Hermitage Treasury

Treasury is the english name for this exhibition in the Hermitage Amsterdam. The tenth anniversary of this dependance of the Russian Hermitage in St.Petersburg will be celebrated with two exhibitions, featuring a cross-section of masterpieces from the entire collection of the St.Peterburg State Hermitage.

This is a ball-dress of Empress Maria Fyodorovna the consort of Emperor Alexander.

It is made of Brocate, velvet, silk and beads.

Kostenki Venus, dating from 23.000 year before Christ. In 1983 discovered by Niclay Praslov in the south of central Russia.

Reflection

With all the rain we had lately you get some puddles.

Linking to "Weekend Reflections"

Drawbridge

No,sir, you have to wait until the drawbridge is going down.

The bridge needed maintenance, the man in the blue overall was testing the bridge and lubricating the hinges. At the left you can see the control machine.

I don't know what my camera was doing, but the last photo looks suddenly rather dramatic!

Linking to "Skywatch Friday"

Stairs

Stairs in the Municipal Museum for modern art in Amsterdam.