FMP Dutch light
- HildeMaassen
- Oct 29, 2020
- 5 min read
Updated: Nov 4, 2020
Medieval Dutch landscape paintings are world famous for their light. This light was so special that it was called "Dutch Light" and the Netherlands became a kind of pilgrimage site for painters from all over Europe to see that light.
But is there such a thing as Dutch light is the question asked in the documentary I saw on this subject. What is that Dutch light anyway?
Dutch light was famous for its brilliance and unique intensity, creating hues and colors that allowed the observers to paint particularly vivid images. In the paintings you often see light and shadows under a towering sky of dramatic clouds. The images appear hyper-realistic - as if depicting a fantasy - and it is this effect that infuses them with the dreamlike quality for which they are so renowned.
What is the difference between landscapes made from that time in different countries is that the Dutch landscapes are always painted as if you look out the window and then see reality. German landscapes always show something about history and Italian landscapes tell a story. In Spain a state of mind is depicted.
The everyday is therefore different. What is also striking is that the paintings are not bright in color. In southern Europe where the light is bright, everything has color. There is little color in the Netherlands but the color accents in the paintings stand out more as if they come to you from the painting.
But is the light different and if so, what makes the light different?
Joseph Beuys said in the late 1970s that the light for which Holland was famous had lost its unique aura. Beuys attributed it to land reclamation in the Zuiderzee in the mid-1950s, during which a large area of water was reclaimed. Beuys saw the Zuiderzee as an enormous light mirror: the eye of Holland.
On this map of The Netherlands all the coloured places where water before and are made land by man. In the Legenda under it you see the time periods. The 3 big orange parts are the ones Beuys is talking about, The Ijselmeer/Zuiderzee and which he called the eye of The Netherlands.
The painters that are famous for the light lived in the left part of The Netherlands between the water where also the bigger cities are situated.
Jan Dibbets thinks Beuys' statement is nonsense. The sea is a much larger water surface than the Ijselmeer and that cannot have such an influence. On the other hand, he does agree that light is important in the paintings. But painters interpret it in paintings and with that you can say that the "Dutch light" was invented, interpreted by the painters.
Light is influenced by the clouds, which are also an important visual element in the paintings in question. The clouds and water vapor soften the light and scatter it. They act as a kind of filter. I have since learned that cloud dynamics are something that changes very locally. This is also the reason that it is so difficult to determine the influence of clouds in the climate models used to predict the future. They work with surfaces of 100 km. The Netherlands is around 300 km long and 200 km wide. The area in which the paintings are made that are known for the Dutch light are at most 100 km wide and 200 km long and situated around the water and the poldered areas.
Beuys could be right that the light changes due to the reclamation of land. The change in the clouds and thus also the humidity as such are not discussed. The documentary was released before it really became known.
Vincent Icke, professor of theoretical astronomy at Leiden University says in the documentary that the Netherlands is always covered with a thin layer of clouds, so that the light is always reflected by droplets of moisture. He shows the effects of land reclamation in the Zuiderzee under laboratory conditions. With the help of a mirror, which symoolizes the surface of the water, he shows what that does to light. (see this video).
This experiment is based on the experiments that Marcel Minnaert did in the field to analyse the nature of Dutch light in his book The physics of the free field.
The book was translated in Englich twice in 1954 and 1993 and brought out with the name The Nature of Light and Color in the Open Air.
The figures here are from the original Dutch book from 1937.
Especially the second figure is very important to me. Normally, the physical law for light is that the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection. This research shows, however, that this does not have to be the case with water surfaces. Itt may be that light that falls at a steep angle can be reflected very flat. This would mean that the light above land could also be strongly influenced by the reflection on the water.
Saskia Boelens is the Dutch artist of the year 2020. she takes photographs of the Dutch landscape inspired by that tradition of Dutch light. But because she edits the photos vigorously, this is absolutely not proof that the Dutch light still exists. She does take the photos in bad weather.
That reminds me of product photography, especially food. When we take a good photo of a hamburger sandwich, there are all kinds of tricks to make the result look better. All of them involved are liquids: motor oil, glycerine, deodorant, hairspray and freezing (freezing of water).
Lars Mendel wrote also an article about the Dutch Light, the Documantary and Beuys and comes to the conclusion that life is a constant cycle of endings and new beginnings and that Dutch Light doesn't exist or isn't important any longer.
NOTE: The problem of the article is that he writes of a German artist Robert Boyes while the film is talking of Joseph Beuys.
In conclusion, you could say that the Dutch light may have changed. Clouds form locally and operate ditto. Due to the reclamation, both the cloud formation and the reflection of light can change locally. However, the paintings with that Dutch light are also very locally made. Beuys may be right. However, we will never know how light really was in the Middle Ages, and what painters added to it.
Resourches:
ATLAS VAN NEDERLAND, part 15. 1986. Water. Available at: http://avn.geo.uu.nl/15water/22/22.html [Accessed on 29 October 2020]
KROON, Pieter Rim de and Maarten de KROON. 2011. Dutch Light. Website Available at: https://www.dutchlight.nl [Accessed on 20 October 2020]
MENSEL, Lars. 2015. Dutch Lights. Available at: https://medium.com/the-idea-list/dutch-light-8bf00f7f425e [Accessed on 29 October 2020]
MINNAER, Marcel. 1937. De natuurkunde van 't vrije veld. Part 1. Available at: https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/minn004natu01_01/minn004natu01_01.pdf [Accessed on 29 October 2020]
ROIJEN, Pieter. 2019. De vliegende hamburger. Available at: https://pietersfotos.blogspot.com/2019/05/de-vliegende-hamburger.html?m=1 [Accessed on 29 October 2020]
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