PGA Quiz: You already know the top three on the final money
list for 2005, but give me the full top ten. Answer below.
Heineken Quiz: How many bottles of beer does Heineken ship
to the U.S. each year? Answer below.
Amsterdam…Sunday night
[Warning: The following is very artsy and may be of limited
appeal. I’ll look to recoup lost traffic next week.]
Well it’s been a good few days here in Amsterdam, with one
more left before I head home. Yesterday I hit the major art and
maritime museums, and today I attended a concert and did a slew
of other things. So here’s your recap.
First, it was the Rijks, the national museum of Holland, which
houses some of Rembrandt’s best work, including his most
famous one, “The Night Watch.” So just who was this guy,
Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669)?
Rembrandt was born in the town of Leiden, the son of a wealthy
miller, and at 18 he moved to Amsterdam to work for a popular
painter of that time, Pieter Lastman. Rembrandt then went back
to Leiden and finally resettled in Amsterdam in 1631.
One of his first commissions, ‘The anatomical lesson of Dr.
Tulp,’ dazzled not just Rembrandt’s patrons but also the public at
large. His reputation grew rapidly and he was suddenly
Richbrandt. People lined up from as far away as Passaic, New
Jersey to have their portrait taken.
And as Rembrandt grew wealthier, he also started building up
quite a collection of art himself; but then it all came crashing
down.
By the end of the 1640s, Rembrandt was desperately short of
money. The plague hitting in 1649 didn’t help matters much
either. Historian Paul Johnson sums it up in his book “Art: A
New History.”
“(Rembrandt’s) troubles were mainly his own fault. He
borrowed money not only to pay for his house but to finance his
collecting habit, and when he had to move into a humbler one,
and sell his collections, he found he had paid too much. In the
twentieth century vast numbers of documents about Rembrandt’s
finances and other activities were unearthed….They show that at
one stage Rembrandt effectively went bankrupt, transferring his
visible assets to the state to avoid imprisonment.”
Rembrandt’s personality changed and whereas he had been such
a respected figure in Amsterdam, he became shifty in his
dealings and a man who couldn’t be trusted.
Earlier, he had married the beautiful Saskia in 1634. She bore
him a son, Titus. But as Paul Johnson notes, following Saskia’s
death in 1642, Rembrandt became downright cruel.
“Rembrandt took into his household a peasant girl by the name
off Geertje Dircx, the widow of a ship’s trumpeter, to look after
(Titus). She became the painter’s mistress, though they never
married, as this would have meant a loss of property to
Rembrandt under Saskia’s will. When Geertje left in 1649, she
took Rembrandt to court for breach of promise, and he was
ordered to pay maintenance of 200 guilders a year. The next
year, on the painter’s deposition, she was committed to a labour
prison for bad women. She actually served five years in this
hell-hole, and Rembrandt tried hard, seeking the agreement of
her estranged family, to keep her there for life. The reason for
the breach with Geertje was that he had formed a liaison with
Hendrickje Stoffels, who bore him an illegitimate child. The
Reformed Church had her ‘punished severely, ordered to
penitence and banned from the Communion Table’ for
‘committing fornication with the painter Rembrandt.’ [Doh!]
These doings and misdoings must have disturbed Rembrandt
deeply, for it is impossible to imagine him without a conscience.
He was ambitious, morally as well as professionally, anxious to
hold himself high. But his self-esteem slowly declined. This
may be the reason why Rembrandt painted, drew and etched
more images of himself than any other painter.”
Rembrandt died penniless. Personally, I always felt he was
overrated.
As is another artist, who plied his craft over 200 years later…
Vincent Van Gogh.
But before we get to his story, let’s review what ‘impressionism’
is, as told by historian John Merriman in his “A History of
Modern Europe.” [Forgot to warn you this is one of our more
academic bar chats. You can apply for graduate degree credit if
you so choose.]
“Impressionist painters rejected traditional religious and
historical subjects, and instead painted modern life. In this, they
reflected the social and political changes seen in the Second
Empire, when more and more French men and women seemed to
be turning away from traditional views of religion. [Ed. This
was also pre-burning cars.] The impressionists depicted rural
and urban landscapes. They presented scenes from everyday
existence, but generally integrated individual figures into
landscapes….
“Embracing subjectivity, the impressionists preferred direct
observation and the study of nature’s effects to studio
composition and imitation of classic styles.”
Edouard Manet (1832-1883) is generally thought to be the first
impressionist. Talk about someone else who’s overrated, it’s this
guy. But I digress. We now continue with John Merriman’s
story.
“(Manet) aspired to create what a contemporary called an art
‘born of today.’ A critic described an ‘impressionist’ painter as
‘a modernist painter endowed with an uncommon sensibility of
the eye [who, by painting] in the bright open air…has succeeded
in remaking for himself a natural eye, and in seeing naturally and
painting simply as he sees.’ The impressionists painted, in short,
what they saw, and how they saw it at first glance. They
attempted to capture their initial, fleeting visual sensations,
trying to recreate on the canvas nature’s wondrous incidents,
such as the way the sunlight falls on inanimate objects. This
distinguished them from the realism of Courbet and his
generation. Claude Monet (1840-1926…and Bar Chat “Artist of
the Millennium”) described what made such painting different.
“ ‘Try to forget what objects you have before you – a tree, a
house, a field, or whatever. Merely think, here is a little square
of blue, here an oblong of pink, here a streak of yellow, and paint
it just as it looks to you, the exact color and shape, until it gives
your own naïve impression of the scene before you.’ Turning
away from the darker tones of realism, the impressionists
increasingly put lighter and brighter colors on large canvases
(which previously had been usually reserved for historical
themes), applying many small dabs of paint to convey an
impression of spontaneity, energy, movement, and change.”
Manet was first rejected in 1863 by the Salon of Paris and the
“Salon of the Refused” included works by Renoir (jury is still out
on him) and Paul Cezanne (superstar). Finally, by the 1870s,
impressionists were accepted.
Which brings us to Van Gogh (1853-1890). Vincent was born in
the south of Holland, the eldest son of a vicar, and his favorite
brother Theo came along four years later. In 1869 he joined a
group of art dealers in The Hague where his work took him to
London. But Van Gogh lost interest and decided he was going to
be a clergyman. This didn’t work, however, as the church
became dissatisfied with him, and in 1880 he had second
thoughts and took up painting, first in Holland, then Belgium,
and then Paris by 1886.
Well, basically his work kind of sucked, but thanks to his brother
Theo, who was a dealer (in paintings, not drugs) in Paris for a
number of years, Van Gogh began to find himself and became
friends with fellow artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. In
the two years he was in Paris, Van Gogh painted 27 self-
portraits, primarily because he couldn’t afford live models.
I mean to tell you, though, I went to the Van Gogh Museum here,
which has 200 of his works (Van Gogh did 800 paintings and
1,000 drawings in his short career) and none are worth a damn
until we get to 1888. It was in February of that year that Vincent
finally wised up, got out of Paris, and went to the southern town
of Arles. Here he sought inspiration from the landscape and
rural life, while harboring dreams of establishing an artists
colony. His friend Paul Gauguin was around for a spell, (boy
there’s a loser…Gauguin), but Gauguin drove Vincent nuts. In
fact this was when Van Gogh lopped off his left earlobe, after
looking in the mirror one morning and realizing he was
morphing into Kirk Douglas.
Well, it goes down rapidly from there, folks, and Van Gogh
decided to admit himself into an insane asylum in April 1889.
Finally, in May 1890, he was well enough to settle in Auvers-
sur-Oise, an artists village close to Paris. Here he became
friendly with Paul Gachet, a doctor who was also an amateur
painter and art collector. Gachet helped Vincent with medical
advice, while in return Van Gogh made various portraits of the
good doctor, which would later sell for a gazillion dollars.
Van Gogh seemed happy and content. Then on July 27, 1890, he
shot himself in the chest and died two days later of his wounds.
His beloved Theo, with whom he exchanged some 1,000 letters,
then died six months later and the two are buried next to each
other in Auvers-sur-Oise.
So basically Vincent had one year, maybe 18 months of world
class work, by my estimation. If I were advising him I would
have said, “Hey, slow down! Concentrate on one painting at a
time, instead of doing three a day.” But he wouldn’t have
listened to me, that’s for sure.
What is pretty amazing is that his paintings in the “Sunflowers”
and “Irises” series sold for $30 to $60 million. “Portrait of Dr.
Gachet” went for some ungodly amount as well. And credit for
ensuring the world knew of Van Gogh’s story has to go to Theo
Van Gogh’s widow and then another of her sons, who took care
of the collection.
[By the way, the Van Gogh museum was absolutely mobbed, at
10 euro a head.]
Other art tidbits:
–I got to see my real favorites, aside from Monet; my main man
Al (Alfred) Sisley and Camille Pissarro. And then there’s this
guy Henri-Edmund Cross (no relation to former NFL player and
broadcaster Irv Cross), who’s underrated.
–Back to Rembrandt, I’m reading the description of one of his
works, with the comment “brilliant,” and then at the end it goes
“but it was probably painted by one of his pupils.”
Well for cryin’ out loud, did he do it or didn’t he?! Of course
this is a huge problem in the art world these days. No one really
knows who did what and there are scams galore.
But to give Van Gogh his due, while further confirming how
screwed up he was, the Van Gogh Museum has a project going
on where they are x-raying all his work because he was known
for revising it constantly. In 1996 they first x-rayed the entire
collection and found 20 pieces that were painted over other work.
Now they’re reviewing all his stuff again for more details.
–One of the Dutch Masters that I like is Johannes Vermeer
(1632-1675). I feel like I’ve seen quite a few of his paintings
through my travels, but I’m told only 36 of his works survived.
So check your attic!!!!!
–Speaking of Dutch Masters, a block from my hotel is a branch
of auctioneer Christie’s. Sunday the door was open, I decided to
check it out and what a pisser. They are holding an auction of
works from this era, roughly 1620-1720, and they had 200 pieces
there for preview before Wednesday’s event. Can’t say I’ve ever
been to something like this and I found out you could pick up an
original Dutch Master for as little as $5,000. [Some small
paintings and drawings could be had for a $1,000.] But…I only
saw about 3 I really liked, which is why most of them aren’t in a
museum in the first place. They did have a Govaert Flinck (a
pretty well known figure…they called him “The Flinckster”) that
Christie’s hopes will draw 150,000 euros or more.
[Christie’s had an auction in New York the other day that
brought in $157 million, including $22.4 million for a Mark
Rothko (1954), the highest amount ever paid for a post-war
work. It’s the hedge fund crowd that is scooping these up.]
–Lastly, I was reading in Crain’s New York Business the other
day about how tough it is to become a volunteer at a leading
establishment such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art or the
Guggenheim. The Met receives about 300 applications a year
and only 20 get selected for a rigorous training program. The
Guggenheim takes a class every two years, accepting about 14 of
100. We’re talking then the candidates have to go through 15
weeks of classes and eight hours of oral tests to become a tour
guide. So why would people want this job that pays zippo? You
get treated like an employee and are invited to all the parties and
get free tickets to special exhibitions, that’s why.
OK, that’s enough art for the next few years. Except I’m going
to Rembrandt’s House in Amsterdam, Monday, so you may have
to put up with just a little more.
Stuff
–The Maritime Museum here was very cool, especially if you’re
into old maps and paintings of sea battles. Joan (pronounced
Johann, I’m assuming) Blaeu was the big cartographer of his
day, around 1650, and he had on his map of North America the
fact that California was separated by water on all sides. Hmmm.
Perhaps Blaeu had a vision of the coming quake that will send
our good friends hurtling over to Fiji. Then again, he also had
the Bahamas being about as big as the entire east coast, which is
why I imagine the locals said of Blaeu, he’s Blehh.
–So I went to this concert Sunday morning, 11:00 AM, an
interesting time to hold such an event, at the beautiful
Concertgebouw.
I saw the Het Gelders Orkest, under the direction of Nikolai
Alexeev, who bore a striking resemblance to Mike Myers. They
opened with Wagner’s “Siegfried and Idyll” and then Martin van
den Hoek soloed on a Liszt piano concerto, all leading up to a
waltz from Richard Strauss’s “Der Rosenkavalier.”
Now I’ve mentioned before that Dr. Bortrum and I believe this
Strauss work is the most beautiful piece of music in the world,
yet I’ve never heard it live. So here was the key.
I had the best seat I’ve ever had in my life; on the end, behind the
orchestra, but sitting up above, facing the other 1,200 or so
audience members. They can all see me….I’m staring down at
them. But thankfully, the excerpt the ochestra played, while
beautiful in its own right, wasn’t the part that always has me
getting a little emotional, and so I was able to walk away with
my dignity.
Back to more normal fare…
–The editor has rebounded in a big way this college football
season. After losing his first two contests, he has gone 9-6 since
then to climb above the .500 mark….9-8.
This past weekend I was 2-1, as I won on USC (giving 19, won
by 25 vs. Cal) and Hawaii (giving 16 ½, won by 27 over Utah
St.), and only lost with Alabama (taking 2 ½, and losing by
freakin’ 3 to LSU in OT).
That means if you bet $100,000 on each game I selected this
year, you’d be up a like amount when all was said and done. As
Ronald Reagan would have said, with a twinkle in his eye and a
cock of the head, “That’s not too bad…not bad at all.”
Of course with the kids, ages 4 to 12 and with a limit of $6,000
per game, they’d still be in hog heaven with six grand to use for
their holiday shopping.
But the season isn’t over yet. I’ll have just 2 or 3 more picks to
click before we get to the national championship game, the only
bowl contest I’ll be wagering on for those of you who have
season subscriptions.
–Elsewhere in college ball, my Wake Forest Demon Deacons
did finish up 4-7, as expected, in losing to Miami in the finale,
47-17. But running back Chris Barclay ended his career by
leading the ACC in rushing his last three seasons, while the great
punter, Ryan Plackemeir, led the nation with 13 kicks over 60
yards in 2005.
And in Division II playoff action, Johnny Mac reported it was a
beautiful day in the Pocono Mountains on Saturday, as East
Stroudsburg Univ. blasted Southern Connecticut, 55-33. The
two teams tallied a D-II record 1,353 yards of combined offense
and our future NFL Hall of Famer (might as well start the
campaign now), quarterback Jimmy Terwilliger, threw another
five TD passes and ran for over 100.
Lastly, this year’s Heisman Trophy will go to Texas superstar,
Vince Young. You can bet another $100,000 on that outcome.
[Again, just $6,000 if you’re age 4 to 12.]
–Jeff B. wrote in while I was overseas that an ostrich mauled a
Mercedes in Australia (CNN.com), while a surfer dude was
bitten by a shark in Florida waters (MSNBC.com). However,
regarding this shark attack, officials said that since the boy was
dangling his foot over the board, it was a case of “mistaken
identity.” Mistaken identity? You’ve got to be kidding me.
Ever seen the shark’s handbook on identifying humans?
–It looks like coyotes just may be animal of the year some day,
as a study of 200 of the scavengers in the Chicago suburbs has
found that they are eating the eggs of Canada geese!!!! Give
them all the Presidential Medal of Freedom, I say. This is
potentially awesome news as the same folks running the study
have said the population of Canada geese in the area has finally
stopped going up. Put a coyote on every block and we’ve
probably licked the problem once and for all.
–I see that in the Chicago Bears – San Francisco 49ers game,
Chicago’s Nathan Vasher had a record 108-yard return off a
missed field goal, while San Francisco QB Cody Pickett had a
nightmare of a game in very windy conditions, completing just 1
of 13 passes. Yikes.
–And in the Giants’ pitiful loss to Minnesota, the Vikings set an
NFL record of their own with an interception return for a
touchdown, a punt return for a score, and a kickoff return for
another six points. As Ronald Reagan would have said….
–Former Pittsburgh Steelers lineman Steve Courson, who gained
fame for admitting steroid use, died when a tree he was cutting
down fell on him. Talk about tragic, Courson saw the tree was
about to fall on his dog and tried to get the dog out of the way.
Evidently the dog survived.
–Rafael Palmeiro, who is still trying to convince the world he
was not taking steroids but rather just received a shot of vitamin
B-12, will not be charged with perjury by Congress; even though
he lied to a congressional committee. For once, Congress
realized it probably had better things to do with its time.
–Here’s your sign of the apocalypse. Nike is bringing back
Kobe Bryant as a spokesman, after dumping him over his alleged
sexual assault case. Bryant will be hawking a new shoe that sells
for a cool $125.
–So I’m sitting at this nice restaurant in Amsterdam the other
night, eating dinner, and I observe this guy return not one, but
two bottles of wine. Now I can go years without seeing one
returned, but two bottles? I felt like going up to him and saying,
“Excuse me, sir, may I have your name? I just want to throw it
in the file for Bar Chat ‘Jerk of the Year.’”
[By the way, when dining alone, always have out a pen and
paper. More times than not, they’ll think you’re a reviewer and
you may get free beer…as I did tonight!]
–Just got my weekly e-mail on Alaskan wildlife from the
Anchorage Daily News and here’s a good question for you.
What is the second-largest rodent to the beaver? Why if it isn’t
the porcupine. And how many quills does your average
porcupine have? Try 30,000. But this particular report was on
how most people never see one when walking through the woods
because they don’t look up, where porcupines normally reside.
“Porcupines can also be quite vocal,” notes the story.
Top 3 songs for the week of 11/17/73: #1 “Keep On Truckin’”
(Eddie Kendricks) #2 “Midnight Train To Georgia” (Gladys
Knight & The Pips…never liked these guys) #3 “Heartbeat, It’s
A Lovebeat” (The DeFranco Family…who were these people,
and why did they bother us so?)
PGA Tour Quiz Answer: Top ten on the money list for ’05 –
1. Tiger…………..$10,628,000
2. Vijay……………$8,017,000
3. Phil………………$5,699,000
4. Jim Furyk……….$4,255,000
5. David Toms…….$3,962,000
6. Kenny Perry…….$3,607,000
7. Chris DiMarco….$3,562,000
8. Retief Goosen…..$3,494,000
9. Bart Bryant……..$3,249,000
10. Sergio Garcia….$3,213,000
11. Funk 12. Leonard 13. Love 14. Harrington 15. Scott
Heineken Beer Quiz Answer: The brewer ships 1,760,000,000
bottles of beer each year to the U.S.
Next Bar Chat, Thursday.
