Chapter 8 | WORKS OF ART

This drawing is a simplification of the logo of the podcast NRC Vandaag. The original (not shown here due to copyright) was designed by Dutch illustrator Seb Agresti. People can listen to world news topics at home or on the go via the podcast. Seb Agresti shows this brilliantly by means of the view from a window: nearby are a teacup and writing utensils, right in front of the window of the listener (or the journalist). Outside is the road to the world, symbolized by the skyline of a world city. The enormous sun that colors the road to the horizon red makes the view of the world even more impressive. The cutoff of both the pencil and paper in front gives a sense sense of the idea that we ourselves are sitting there at a desk in front of the window. Het afsnijden van zowel het potlood als het papier op de voorgrond wekt de indruk dat we zelf aan een bureau voor het raam zitten.

Het laantje van Middelharnis, Meindert Hobbema, 1689, oil on canvas, 103,5 x 140 cm. (National Gallery Londen)

Another masterpiece that fits nicely with a lesson on perspective is ‘Het laantje van Middelharnis‘ by Meindert Hobbema from 1689. You can clearly see that everything becomes smaller further away. The road also becomes narrower until it almost disappears on the horizon. Our point of view is a fraction higher than the people in the painting. Due to the low horizon, the trees along the path protrude far above our eye level and a large part of the painting consists of a typical Dutch cloudy sky. The depth effect is further enhanced by the tracks of a cart on the path and the ditches along the road. Obviously the land is used for agriculture. On the right someone is busy pruning. Hobbema probably first made sketches outside and then put everything together and painted it in his studio. In the 17th century and long afterwards, there was also a great demand for this type of painting abroad. In 1815 it was sold by the municipality of Middelharnis for 1000 guilders to an English collector. Today it hangs ‘not for sale’ in The National Gallery in London.

In the painting ‘Wanderer above the Mists’ from 1817 by Caspar David Friedrich, a hiker gazes at the awe-inspiring surroundings from a mountaintop. Because the mountains are shrouded in mist, you cannot see the horizon, but it is there, at the hiker’s and at the same time our eye level. These kinds of spectacular perspectives are also used in games.

EXTRA: Make a variation on this subject. Perhaps we see a heroic or dangerous warrior on a tower or the roof of a skyscraper.