Artists in the Dutch East Indies
Elka Schrijver tells the story of the artists who followed the Dutch East India Company to modern day Indonesia.
From October 19th to December 10th the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum is showing paintings and drawings by European artists who worked in the Dutch East Indies.
The period covered is the colonial era; that of the Dutch East India Company (1608-1811), the transitional period under British rule (1811-1816), and the colonial empire (1816-1949).
It is understandable that in the early days of the East India Company little thought was given to the arts: the first Dutch officials, merchants and soldiers, needed all their energy and money to establish and defend their precarious footholds.
Nevertheless, some Dutch artists found their way to the East, where the best among them were commissioned to paint portraits of the successive Governors-General and other high officials.
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