The Frans Hals Museum recently discovered this lost painting by Judith Leyster (1609-1660), the first female Dutch master painter.

The painting depicts a still life of a Chinese vase with flowers. Its Belgian owner, Mrs Luc from Ostend, alerted the museum in August of its existence. Although she was aware art collectors knew about the painting (it is listed in an inventory in Leyster’s husband’s possessions), she was waiting for the right moment to reveal the work, which she originally bought for about 500 euro in the 1970s.

Leyster became a master painter in 1633, the first woman in the West to do so. Her paintings seem inspired by Frans Hals, showing jolly drinkers, musicians and playing children. Both Leyster and Hals had their studios in Haarlem. After Leyster married fellow painter Jan Miense Molenaer in 1636, her output dwindled to a trickle, her last known painting being from 1643 until a few months ago.

The Frans Hals Museum quotes Leyster expert Frima Fox Hofrichter:

Many art historians have often assumed that Judith Leyster gave up painting upon her marriage. With the discovery of the flower still life and its date of 1654, we now have documentation that she continued her career as a painter. It is likely that Leyster moved to still-lives and botanical studies after her marriage, perhaps to split the market with her husband.

The Frans Hals Museum will host a Leyster exhibition from 19 December 2009 till May 9, 2010.

(Link: Parool. Source image: Frans Hals Museum.)

Co-blogger Branko has a Dutch saying when he hears a bad street musician: “Net zo irritant als een straatmuzikant” (Just as irritating as a street musician). Of course, there are good ones and I sometimes give them money, but summer has a nasty way of attracting bad street musicians as well as gypsy children forced to play in order to earn money for some conspicuous adults. It’s basically child labour, but then with an accordion. I saw a gypsy child playing the accordion once in Den Bosch and saw her on the news the exact same evening with a man taking her earnings away. According to the Dutch children protection agency, the kids are 10 to 14 years old and earn money for their family. They are allowed to play within the EU and so it’s not illegal somehow.

The wealthy city of Haarlem claims it is being invaded by “untalented Eastern European musicians” and next year, it plans to audition them so they can get a permit. City council believes in musicians on the street, but not so many bad ones, or “beggars with an instrument”. This would make Haarlem the first Dutch city ever to impose permits on street musicians.

My guess is the musicians will just play elsewhere… like Amsterdam.

(Link: depers.nl)

It’s not much to look at, a blotchy photo of a drawing of Johannes Enschedé III, but this is the oldest photo of the country according to De Pers (Dutch). To be precise, it’s the first daguerreotype photo sent to the Netherlands. It was discovered recently in the private museum of Royal Joh. Enschedé, the famous printers from Haarlem (1703) who amongst other things used to print the Dutch bank notes and passports.

The museum’s website reports (Dutch) that the photo was sent from France by Jeanne Enschedé – Dalen, who lived in Paris, to Haarlem where it arrived on October 4, 1839.

In De Pers’ article Andrea Roosen, an employee of the museum, calls the family a bunch of pack rats. When they discovered a note in Johannes Enschedé III’s 1839 diary about the payment for reception of the photo to the courier or mailman, “we knew that that photo still had to be around.” Daguerre had announced the invention of his type of photography only that same year.

The photo will be displayed as part of a larger exhibition of Daguerreotypes of the Enschedé family at photo museum Huis Marseille in Amsterdam from today until May 24.

The Frans Hals Museum in Haarlem claims to have found five new paintings by the master. Research shows that one of the paintings, a portrait from 1640, was previously considered as not being one of Hals’ works, while the other four were unknown until now. The portrait was discovered recently at the Dutch embassy in Paris.

All the paintings are currently being restored and will be on display at the museum as of 11 October.

(Link: rtvnh.nl)

You’ve seen it many times before, the dirty car or truck with ‘wash me’ written on it with someone’s finger. This time, the roles are reversed. Inspired by the trend of reverse graffiti, Pascal Boogaert of Pascal concept & copy thought up an outdoor campaign for Jordan car wash in Haarlem. Here we are plugging them too because their campaign is cool. Using a template, a sponge and probably some car shampoo, the campaign was clearly smeared onto cars, leaving clean messages about the car wash.

(Link and photo: molblog.nl)

Stealing hub caps and car badges is passé. Stealing entire wheels is daring, but hey, every baddy in town’s doin’ it and so it’s not cool anymore. Time to think out-of-the-box: stealing Renault Espace seats.

Some smart crooks decided to steal a large number of seats from a car dealer. All the cars just happened to have pierced radiators and ended up in the same place for repairs. Five seats fit in an Espace and they usually come with three. The police in Haarlem said that second hand seats go for 300 euro a piece. You do the math.

(Link: rtl.nl)

There is no honourable way of putting this: the Mayor of Haarlem is, er, not very well informed. Bernt Schneiders has fallen into the old trap of thinking the Dutch really invented book printing and played Dutch uncle to the Chinese for making what he thinks is a mistake during the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games when they claimed that book printing is a Chinese invention. Schneiders wrote a letter to the Mayor of Beijing, Wang Qisham resolutely pointing out that Haarlem’s Laurens Janszoon Coster invented book printing in 1400, which according to Schneiders is “a well-known fact”. Diplomacy as well as history is obviously not his forte.

No one really knows who invented book printing and where, and although Coster had some role to play, so did the Flemish Dirk Martens and Germany’s much more productive Johann Gutenberg. Even prominent Dutch linguist Marc van Oostendorp wrote in an article about naming book projects in Europe that people acted “as if China did not exist.” Oostendorp adds that “until the 19th century, it was purely nationalist Dutch thinking to suppose that Laurens Janszoon Coster was the inventor of book printing and that Gutenberg stole his idea.” He also wrote that “as far as we know today nobody believes in this theory anymore. There is even doubt as to whether Coster even lived in Haarlem”. Ouch.

(Link: telegraaf.nl)

The 24 Oranges crew visited the Stripdagen Haarlem last Sunday, where it was reminded of the special connection one of the sponsors has with comics. NZH is a public transportation company from 1880 (now part of Connexxion) which during the 1980s brought out timetable books that used covers drawn by comics artists—first Dutch artists, then the leading European ones. For ages now Dik Winter has had a site with these and similarly themed later covers from GVB, the Amsterdam public transport company.

NZH’s (and GVB’s) connection with comics likely stems from jonkheer (squire) André Esta’s love for comics. Esta was the NZH CEO in the 1980s, and in the 1990s he switched to GVB.

Shown here is Lucky Luke by Belgian artist Morris.

Photo below: a vendor’s stand at a sunny Grote Markt in Haarlem.

One of the major comics cons of the Netherlands is being held today and tomorrow, the Stripdagen Haarlem. The Amsterdam Weekly blog asked four members of the Dutch underground comics establishment what they will be visiting. Read the tips of

• Merel Barends
• Tonio van Vugt (Zone 5300 editor)
• Marc van der Holst
• Roel Smit

Sez Van Vugt:

2. Lots of nice exhibitions during the festival, but I wouldn’t want to miss the Lamelos vs. The Doozers spectacle in De Philharmonie (Saturday, 16.00) for the world. Two famously anarchistic comic artist ensembles build cardboard monsters and will fight each other to death! Mayhem ensues!

The gist seems to be that most will watch the guinea pig races (an old Dutch TV tradition) held at the De Philharmonie, and will ingest a liquid called “beer” afterwards.

Illustration: Tonio van Vugt, self-portrait. Disclaimer: Orangemaster also writes for Amsterdam Weekly and its blog.

The firing of Danish cyclist Michael Rasmussen has caused cake problems. As sponsor, the Rabobank had promised every employee in the country ‘yellow jersey’ cake after they would win the Tour, which seemed pretty likely at the time. Since the party is so not going to happen, neither is the big order for the Dutch pastry company in Haarlem overseeing the order. Lucky for them, all those Dutch bakeries were planning on starting their cakes this weekend, so it’s not a complete disaster.

(Link: zibb)