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Rembrandt's Smallest Paintings

[Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, portraits of Jan van der Pluym and Jaapgen Caerlsdr (1635), oil on panel, each 7-7/8 x 6-1/2 inches]

From Hyperallergic:

Rediscovered Rembrandt Portraits May Be the Artist's Smallest Paintings

The tiny pair of oval paintings of an older couple from Rembrandt's family circle displayed for the first time in nearly 200 years.

Emerging from private holdings for the first time in nearly two centuries, a rediscovered pair of Rembrandt portraits is now on a long-term loan for public display at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. At nearly eight inches tall each, the portraits of Jan Willemsz van der Pluym and his wife Jaapgen Caerlsdr, whose son married the artist's cousin, are said to be the smallest formal paintings (excluding studies) the Old Master ever created.

 

Created in 1635, the oval paintings on panel remained in the family for over a hundred years until they were auctioned by the children of the couple's great-great-grandson in 1760 following his death. The works passed through a few European nobles' collections and were last sold in 1824 through Christie's London to a private collection in the United Kingdom where they remained until now. The auction house was consulted to sell the works again, and the pair was acquired by Henry Holtman for $14 million on July 6, 2023.

 

Scholars believe Jan Willemsz van der Pluym was a wealthy plumber from the Dutch city of Leiden who married Jaapgen Caerlsdr in 1591. Their only son, Dominicus van der Pluym, married Rembrandt's first cousin on his mother's side, Cornelia van Suytbroeck. Dominicus and Cornelia's son, artist Karel van der Pluym, is thought to have apprenticed under Rembrandt and is recognized as the artist's only heir.

 

 

[The little portraits of Jan and Jaapgen were outfitted with new frames before joining other Rembrandt paintings on display in Gallery 2.8 at the Rijksmuseum.]

 

Researchers at the Rijksmuseum collaborated with Christie's to attribute the couple's portraits as works by Rembrandt. The pair's ages (Jan was 69, Jaapgen was 70) are inscribed on the works and were verified by the museum through research into their birth years. Technical research conducted through paint sample analysis and X-ray imaging confirmed that the pigments used throughout the portraits were frequently found in other Rembrandt works, and that the manner in which the Old Master built up their likeness was in line with other portraiture he completed between 1634 and 1635.

 

The loose, fast brushwork and small scale led the museum to believe that the works were completed as a favor to the couple, though Rembrandt reportedly painted larger renditions of their portraits.

 

As the Rijksmuseum hosts the largest collection of Rembrandt paintings in the world, Holterman decided that the two portraits should be displayed at the institution on a long-term loan. The tiny paintings are exhibited together alongside several other paintings from the artist's lifetime.

Disgusting Food Museum

It's located at Södra Förstadsgatan 2 in Malmö, Sweden.

From the museum's website:

Food is so much more than sustenance. Curious foods from exotic cultures have always fascinated us. Unfamiliar foods can be delicious, or they can be more of an acquired taste. While cultural differences often separate us and create boundaries, food can also connect us. Sharing a meal is the best way to turn strangers into friends.

The evolutionary function of disgust is to help us avoid disease and unsafe food. Disgust is one of the six fundamental human emotions. While the emotion is universal, the foods that we find disgusting are not. What is delicious to one person can be revolting to another. The Disgusting Food Museum invites visitors to explore the world of food and challenge their notions of what is and what isn't edible. Could changing our ideas of disgust help us embrace the environmentally sustainable foods of the future?

The exhibit has 80 of the world's most disgusting foods. Adventurous visitors will appreciate the opportunity to smell and taste some of these notorious foods. Do you dare smell the world’s stinkiest cheese? Or taste sweets made with metal cleansing chemicals?

From Vogue Scandinavia:

According to the Disgusting Food Museum in Malmö, there are only six nations that love salty liquorice: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, and the Netherlands. At the tasting counter in the museum, you can find samples of different foods that really divide opinion and whose popularity depends on whether you grew up with the food in question. This is what we call an acquired taste.

At the museum's counter there are various beetles and caterpillars, Kalle's kaviar, particularly pungent cheeses such as the English Stinking Bishop (washed-rind cheese) and the Sardinian su callu (goat kid's rennet cheese) – all for you to taste. And finally, at the disgust level with the Icelandic specialty hákarl and the Swedish surströmning, respectively fermented shark and herring, you'll find the salty liquorice. Represented by svenskjävlar (Swedish devils), branded with the pay off: "The saltiest liquorice in the world".

For a Scandinavian, this point at the tasting counter is a wonderful break from the vomit-inducing food samples, but for visitors from the rest of the world, the little svenskjävlar are gross at the highest level.

Brian Eno's Glowing Turntable

From Kottke:

Electronic music pioneer Brian Eno has designed a glowing turntable that shifts colors as it plays records.

Brian Eno's Turntable II is made up of a platter and base, which change colours independently, seamlessly phasing through combinations of generative "colourscapes".

The pattern of lights, the speed at which they change, and how they change are programmed, but programmed to change randomly and slowly.

It plays both 33 and 45rpm vinyl.

Limited edition of 150 plus 20 artist's proofs.

£20,000.