The Low Countries. Jaargang 6

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Publication

 

This sixth yearbook is published by the Flemish-Netherlands Foundation ‘Stichting Ons Erfdeel’, with the support of the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (Zoetermeer) and the Flemish Ministry of Culture (Brussels).

 

The Foundation ‘Stichting Ons Erfdeel’ also publishes the Dutch-language periodical Ons Erfdeel and the French-language periodical Septentrion. Arts, lettres et culture de Flandre et des Pays-Bas, the bilingual yearbook De Franse Nederlanden - Les Pays-Bas Français and a series of books in several languages covering various aspects of the culture of the Low Countries.

 

The Board of Directors of ‘Stichting Ons Erfdeel’

 

President: Philip Houben

 

Managing Director: Jozef Deleu

 

Directors: Herman Balthazar / Hans Bosman / Jan Bosselaers / Annemarie Deleu-Deblaere / Jan Desmyter / Vaast Leysen / Cecile Maeyaert-Cambien / Adriaan van der Staay / Adriaan Verhulst

 

Honorary President: Raf Renard

 

Address of the Editorial Board and the Administration

 

‘Stichting Ons Erfdeel’, Murissonstraat 260, 8930 Rekkem, Flanders, Belgium

tel. +32 56 41 12 01

fax +32 56 41 47 07

e-mail erfdeel@pophost.eunet.be

url http://www.onserfdeel.be

 

Head of Administration: Bernard Viaene

Administrative Secretaries: Stephanie Debaene / Candide Samain / Hans Verhaeghe

 

Aims

 

With The Low Countries the editors and publisher aim to present to the English-speaking world the culture and society of the Dutchspeaking area which embraces both the Kingdom of the Netherlands and also Flanders, the northern part of the Kingdom of Belgium.

 

The articles in this yearbook survey the living, contemporary culture of the Low Countries as well as their cultural heritage. In its words and pictures The Low Countries provides information about literature and the arts, but also about broad social and historical developments in Flanders and the Netherlands.

 

The culture of Flanders and the Netherlands is not an isolated phenomenon; its development over the centuries has been one of continuous interaction with the outside world. In consequence the yearbook also pays due attention to the centuries-old continuing cultural interplay between the Low Countries and the world beyond their borders.

 

By drawing attention to the diversity, vitality and international dimension of the culture of Flanders and the Netherlands, The Low Countries hopes to contribute to a lively dialogue between differing cultures.

 

issn 0779-5815

isbn 90-75862-28-8

nugi 601

 

Copyright © 1998 ‘Stichting Ons Erfdeel’

Printed by Die Keure, Bruges, Flanders, Belgium

 

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form without the prior permission of the copyright holder.

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The Low Countries

Next page: Jean Baptiste Davelooze, Landscape with Cows (detail). 1843. Canvas, 61 × 81.5 cm. Groeningemuseum, Bruges (Photo by Hugo Maertens).

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THE LOW COUNTRIES

Arts and Society in Flanders and the Netherlands

A Yearbook

 

1998-99

Published by the

Flemish-Netherlands Foundation ‘Stichting Ons Erfdeel’

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Editorial Board

 

Chief Editor: Jozef Deleu

 

Deputy Editors: Luc Devoldere, Frits Niessen, Reinier Salverda

 

Secretary: Filip Matthijs

 

Members: Dirk van Assche, Anton Korteweg, Hans Vanacker

 

Design and Picture Editor: Kees Nieuwenhuijzen

 

Advisory Committee

 

Fred G.H. Bachrach, Twickenham, United Kingdom

E.M. Beekman, Amherst, ma, usa

André Brink, Cape Town, South Africa

James Brockway, The Hague, The Netherlands

Christopher Brown, Oxford, United Kingdom

Bram Buijze, Ottawa, Canada

Patricia Carson, Ghent, Belgium

Jan Deloof, Zwevegem, Belgium

Theo D'haen, Leiden, The Netherlands

Bruce C. Donaldson, Melbourne, Australia

Charles Ford, London, United Kingdom

Amy Golahny, Williamsport, pa, usa

Jaap Harskamp, London, United Kingdom

Adrian van den Hoven, Windsor, Ontario, Canada

Jonathan Israel, London, United Kingdom

E.H. Kossmann, Groningen, The Netherlands

Frank Ligtvoet, New York, ny, usa

Hans van Marle, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Martin Mooij, Capelle a / d IJssel, The Netherlands

Arnold J. Pomerans, Colchester, United Kingdom

Ethel Portnoy, The Hague, The Netherlands

Paul R. Sellin, Los Angeles, ca, usa

William Z. Shetter, Bloomington, in, usa

Johan P. Snapper, Berkeley, ca, usa

Kees Snoek, Strasbourg, France

Paul Vincent, London, United Kingdom

Leo Vroman, Fort Worth, tx, usa

Rudi Wester, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

John Willemse, Pretoria, South Africa

Michael J. Wintle, Hull, United Kingdom

Manfred Wolf, San Francisco, ca, usa

Joanna Woodall, London, United Kingdom

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Contents

12	Christopher Brown
A Naturally Gifted Painter The Work of Anthony van Dyck
24	Tineke Reijnders
As Mysterious as Running Water The Work of Marijke van Warmerdam
30	Frank Vandenbroucke
Belgian Welfare Reform
35	Jan Berkouwer
Myth and Reality of the Polder Model
45	Hans Ibelings
The Rembrandt of Dutch Architecture The Work of Hendrik Petrus Berlage
52	Lori van Biervliet
‘Dear Old Bruges’ The English Colony in Bruges in the Nineteenth Century
60	Anne Powell
‘A whole sweet countryside amuck with murder’ War Poetry and the Flemish Frontline
Six War Poems by Hugo Claus, John McCrae, Thomas Ernest Hulme, Julian Grenfell, Herbert Read and Edmund Blunden
73	Emmanuel Gerard
From Hereditary Authority to Individual Charisma The Monarchy in Belgium
84	Harry van Wijnen
All Quiet on the Royal Front 150 Years of Continuous Monarchy in the Netherlands
91	Marie Christine van der Sman
The Hague, a Royal City

 

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103	Paul Vincent
A Forgotten Classic The Work of Louis Couperus in English
‘The Binoculars’ by Louis Couperus
112	Paul van Velthoven
The Hague, a Divided City
117	Juleke van Lindert
‘Nature itself on the canvas’ The Painters of the Hague School
126	Frits Niessen
Nine City Poems by Hanny Michaelis, Georgine Sanders, Hugo Claus, Richard Minne, J.A. Deelder, Anton Korteweg, Adriaan de Roover, Hans van de Waarsenburg and Willem M. Roggeman
130	Jan Fontijn
The American Adventure of Frederik van Eeden
Extract from ‘Happy Humanity’ by Frederik van Eeden
141	Hilde Eynikel
Rebel with a Cause Father Damien on Molokai
149	Jan Papy
Learned, Wise and Good Justus Lipsius: Portrait of a Humanist Scholar
155	Paul Depondt
The Pain Catcher Thierry de Cordier, Thinker, Artist and Humble Earthworm
161	Wout Jac. van Bekkum
The Jews in the Netherlands
170	Daan Cartens
A Traveller through Time The Work of Marcel Möring
Extract from ‘In Babylon’ by Marcel Möring
178	Anne Marie Musschoot
The Courage of the Critical Intellect The Work of Stefan Hertmans
‘A Bigger Head’ and Two Poems by Stefan Hertmans
187	Cyrille Offermans
The Heart that Skips a Beat Charlotte Mutsaers' Poetic Prose
Extract from ‘Rachel's Skirt’ by Charlotte Mutsaers
195	Ken Gladdish
Dutch Intellectual Hospitality
200	Luc Huyse
Chronicle of a Crisis Foretold The Judicial System in Belgium

 

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207	Pierre H. Dubois
Elisabeth Eybers, a Monumental Poet
Five Poems by Elisabeth Eybers
212	Michael Palmer
Léon Spilliaert, a Troubled and Troubling Painter
220	Dirk van Dalen
A Mystic and Mathematical Revolutionary L.E.J. Brouwer's Role in Topology and Intuitionism
226	Ludo Bekkers
The Sculptor as Craftsman The Work of Rik Poot
232	Jane Fenoulhet
Against the Status Quo Louis Paul Boon in a Wider Literary Context
Extract from ‘Chapel Road’ by Louis Paul Boon
238	Manfred Wolf
The Extraordinary Uses of the Ordinary The Poetry of Judith Herzberg
Six Poems by Judith Herzberg
245	Marita de Sterck
Flemish Giants The Steep Climb of Juvenile Literature in Flanders
255	Gerdin Linthorst
The Tradition of the Lonely Wandering Eye The Films of Johan van der Keuken
264	Jan Rubinstein
‘Simply a question of notes’ Jan van Vlijmen: From Director / Composer to Composer

 

Chronicle

 

Architecture

268	Hans Ibelings
Puzzling Architecture The Spectacular Work of MVRDV

 

Cultural Policy

270	Michael P. Olson
An International Treasure The Dutch and Flemish Library Collections at Harvard University

 

Film and Theatre

271	Fred Six
Blauwe Maandag's Great Shakespearian Adventure
273	Steven Heene
The Sacrifice is Never Too Small Jan Decleir, Actor and Director
275	Ton Gloudemans
Animated and Kicking The Netherlands Institute for Animated Film

 

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History

276	Sabine Vanacker
The Arctic Adventures of Olivier Brunel
278	Johan Verberckmoes
The Peace of Münster
279	Jacques Ryckebosch
Talbot House in Pops
280	Gie van den Berghe
Victims and Survivors The Nazi Persecution of Dutch Jews
282	Edward van Voolen
The Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam
283	Dirk van Assche
Tropical Tervuren The Royal Museum of Central Africa
285	Filip Matthijs
The Little Man with the Big Heart Roger Vandersteene among the Cree

 

Language

287	Reinier Salverda
Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Dutch Grammar (But Were Afraid to Ask)

 

Literature

288	Luc Devoldere
A Great Neo-Latin Scholar Jozef IJsewijn and his Life's Work
289	Yann Lovelock
A Wry Sense of Mortality Selected Poems of Remco Campert
290	Jolanda Vanderwal Taylor
Outside the Lines
291	Reinier Salverda
A Season of Dutch and Flemish Poetry
292	Paul Vincent
Low Leans the Sky The First Five Years of the yearbook ‘The Low Countries’

 

Music

293	Lutgard Mutsaers
Beyond the Rock 'n Roll High School The First Pop Professor in the Netherlands
294	Mark Delaere
Very Abstract Music Karel Goeyvaerts and the Internationalisation of New Music in Flanders

 

Philosophy and Science

296	Ludo Abicht
A Flemish Rationalist The Uncompromising Thinking of Etienne Vermeersch
297	Ger Groot
Philosophy in Harmony with the Gods The Work of Samuel IJsseling
299	K. van Berkel
Einstein's Pipe The Autobiography of Abraham Pais
301	Douwe Draaisma
Mister Psychology The Work of Piet Vroon

 

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Society

302	Filip Matthijs
Test Lab Holland The Netherlands in Perspective

 

Visual Arts

304	Eric Bracke
Solving the Rembrandt Mystery
306	Pascal Lefèvre
Lucky Luke, a Lonesome Cowboy for More than Half a Century
307	Fred G.H. Bachrach
Whistler's Holland A Nineteenth-Century American's Vision
308	Lieven van den Abeele
Art for the Advanced Art-Lover The Portraits of Jan Vercruysse
310	Johan Valcke
Beyond Elegance Siegfried de Buck's Jewellery Designs

 

●

311	Bibliography of Dutch-Language Publications translated into English (traced in 1997)
318	Contributors
319	Translators