Portrait: Vincent van Gogh, founder of modern art

24 May 2017 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: Portrait Reading Time:  17 minutes

Vincent van Gogh signature

Vincent van Gogh signature

Vincent Willem van Gogh was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art. In just over a decade he created about 2,100 artworks, including around 860 oil paintings, most of them in the last two years of his life in France, where he died. They include landscapes, still lifes, portraits and self-portraits, and are characterised by bold colours and dramatic, impulsive and expressive brushwork that contributed to the foundations of modern art. His suicide at 37 followed years of mental illness and poverty.   read more…

Tilburg, in the heart of Brabant

5 December 2014 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Street view © Michielverbeek

Street view © Michielverbeek

Tilburg is a landlocked municipality and a city in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of Noord-Brabant. Tilburg municipality also includes the villages of Berkel-Enschot and Udenhout. Tilburg University is located in Tilburg, as are Avans University of Applied Sciences and Fontys University of Applied Sciences. Tilburg has nearly 30.000 students at one of these universities.   read more…

Breda in the south of Holland

6 July 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  5 minutes

Great church seen from Grote Markt square © ClaudeJacques

Great church seen from Grote Markt square © ClaudeJacques

Breda is a municipality and a city in the southern part of the Netherlands. The name Breda derived from brede Aa (‘wide Aa’) and refers to the confluence of the rivers Mark and Aa. As a fortified city, the city was of strategic military and political significance. Although a direct Fiefdom of the Holy Roman Emperor, the city obtained a municipal charter; the acquisition of Breda, through marriage, by the house of Nassau ensured that Breda would be at the center of political and social life in the Low Countries. Breda’s urban area is home to an estimated 316,000 people.   read more…

’s-Hertogenbosch, capital of the province of North Brabant

25 May 2012 | Author/Destination: | Rubric: General Reading Time:  8 minutes

Shopping area © flickr.com - PhilipC

Shopping area © flickr.com – PhilipC

‘s-Hertogenbosch (literally “The Duke’s Forest”) is a municipality in the Netherlands, and also the capital of the province of North Brabant. It is located in the southern Netherlands, some 80 km south of Amsterdam. The Dutch colloquially seldom say ‘s-Hertogenbosch but rather Den Bosch, which is traditional Dutch for “The Forest”.   read more…

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