AWC Going Dutch Dec 2019

The Dutch Daily
by Eileen Harloff
The new AWC Website is now up and running!
Please visit
www.awcthehague.org
for all of your Club-related needs:
Payment of Membership dues, registration for activities and events,
Membership directory, etc.
30 GOING DUTCH
If you have any questions about the website, please contact
communications@awcthehague.org
Credit: AD.nl © Fred Leeflang
Traces of the Past
Anyone who lives in the Netherlands and
has an interest in art will be familiar with
the name Johannes Vermeer and with at
least two of his paintings: View of Delft and
The Girl with the Pearl Earring. Vermeer
was born and lived all his short life in Delft.
In his early years, his family (father, mother
and sister Greetrui) moved into Herberg
Mechelen in the center of town, across the
square from the present Vermeeer Center.
His father was a satin weaver, innkeeper
and art dealer. In 1653, Johannes married
Catharina Bolnes, joined the Catholic
Church and moved with his wife to the home
of his well-to-do mother-in-law, where he
had his own atelier. Mainly he sold paintings,
but he also took commissions to paint
pictures for others. During their marriage,
Johannes and Catharina gave birth to 11
children, the eldest of whom was Johannes,
who became a priest.
Following the death of his father, Johannes
the painter inherited the Herberg Mechelen.
Unfortunately, at this time the economy was
slow and the only price he could get for the
inn was a mere 960 guilders. Commissions
for paintings were not forthcoming and
Johannes became depressed and, after a
short illness, he died in 1675 at the age of
42. In 1851, the Herberg was destroyed and
all but forgotten.
Fast forward to June 2019. While excavations
were being done on sewer works in
the center of Delft, the workmen came upon
a substantial wall, which was identified as
having been part of the former Herberg
Mechelen. The chairman of the Vermeer
Center, Herman Weyers, has suggested that
the cellar of the former inn be dug out and
covered by a glass plate so that this piece of
history can be revealed to people of today.
However, it is likely that the cost of such a
project and its maintenance may well make
such a venture too expensive to realize.
Child Wonder
The Heywoods are an unusual family.
After having traveled around Europe for a
time, they have now settled in a houseboat
in Gouda. Their passion is music, which
fills their days. Father plays a variety of
instruments, and six-year-old Pippen can’t
spell well, but he can read sheet music.
Sister Jala, age 10, is both a bookworm
and a passionate musician; she sings and
plays the piano and guitar. Two years ago,
she applied for an audition at the Royal
Conservatory in The Hague and was accepted
as a student. Her instrument at the
time was the piano, but she started looking
around for another instrument to play—
one that her father had not mastered—and
came upon the contrabass. She fell in love
with it, was its only student, and has become
the pride of the Conservatory. It’s a
big instrument for a small person to play,
but Jala finds that one of its advantages is
that it grows with the player but must always
be larger than her. However, it must
not be so large that she can’t reach the top
of the strings. She plays both jazz and classics,
and is the pride of her teacher, Mark
van Rooijen, who praises her enormous
focus. However, he adds, this is perhaps
because there is no television on the houseboat.
It won’t be long, he predicts, before
she may well surpass him.
DECEMBER 2019 31