WBooks – serie

In 'Discover the Modern' Benno Tempel, director of the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, tells us a story about modern art. Though the different themes the reader gets an atmospheric picture of the dynamic development of fine art, from the 19th-century until modern day. Steeped in political and social events, the book presents correlations between photography and painting, between space travel and utopian projects. This leads to fascinating comparisons, for example, between Claude Monet and Wasssily Kandinsky, Francis Bacon and Gerhard Richter or Anton Heyboer and Vincent van Gogh. This incredible publication is more than a book about modern art...it reads like an exciting exploration of modern times.

There is no city in history more evocative than Troy. Since the famous poet Homer wrote his Iliad and Odyssey in the 8th century BC, many others have studied, reinterpreted, sung about and laid claim for themselves to the city, the war between the Greeks and the Trojans, and the famous Wooden Horse. Troy became a legendary lieu de memoire, and thus a city of poetry, painting, opera and film. But Troy actually existed as well: in 1871 the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann found the remains of the city while excavating in Turkey. Archaeologists have exposed the city's history since the end of the 19th century. Troy. City, Homer and Turkey presents the latest insights and discoveries relating to both the historical and the legendary Troy.

Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675) is world-famous for his scenes of daily life, such as a kitchen maid pouring milk, a woman having a music lesson, or a lady writing a letter. However, when Vermeer began painting around the age of 21, he focused primarily on traditional subjects derived from the Bible and classical mythology. Not only do these early works differ greatly from his later paintings in terms of subject matter, they also differ in style. The exhibition unites three paintings from the beginning of Vermeer's artistic career: the Mauritshuis' "Diana and her nymphs" of c. 1653-1654, is joined by "Christ in the house of Martha and Mary" (c. 1655) from the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh, and "The Procuress" (1656) from the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen in Dresden. These three paintings afford an image of the artist seeking his own style. All three paintings have recently been restored. Within this context, the differences between Johannes Vermeer's early and late work also emerge clearly. "The Young Vermeer" is organised in collaboration with the Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister in Dresden and the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh.

More than four centuries ago, the small Republic of the United Netherlands embarked on an economic boom. Contacts were established with the four corners of the world. Many of these centuries-old relationships have left traces in museums and archives, in the open fields or in the city, in stories and in pictures. 'Footsteps and Fingerprints', the Legacy of a Shared History presents an image of the legacy the contacts between Brazil, Ghana, India, Indonesia, the Netherlands, Russia, Sri Lanka, Surinam and South Africa have produced over the last 400 years. Various 'top pieces' and other remarkable items designated Mutual Cultural Heritage are described: from Vingboons' View of Table Bay, Henkes Schnapps in Ghana to the Dutch Church in St Pertersburg.

Van der Helst (Haarlem ca. 1613 - 1670 Amsterdam) was a, by the Amsterdam elite, highly appreciated Portrait painter in the early years of the Dutch 17th Century. His most important work Schuttersmaaltijd (1648-1650), a group portrait of 'The Cornelis Jansz. Witsen Company' is still one of the most important masterpieces of the 17 th Century in Holland. Text in Dutch.

"Jasper Krabbe - 100 Selfportraits" includes an impressive number of self-portraits made in the period between the Summer of 2004 and the Summer of 2005. The portraits' formats have been determined by the measurements of an old bookkeeping book in which Krabbe made his self-portraits - one dating from the nineteen-fifties with squared and blank pages. Even the paint he uses for this project is from the same period. This corresponds with the idea that the self-portrait is a typical nineteenth-century activity. The book has been reproduced as a facsimile, which means that the reader has the feeling of looking at the original sketchbook of the artist. Krabbe wanted to explore what the self-portrait can still be in today's age. He wanted to gauge changing emotions, capture a moment and find the right tone. The selection in the book shows the diversity of solutions and styles he used. The self-portraits reveal there is no such thing as a fixed identity but maybe rather a 'core', a soul that is unchangeable. The text is in Dutch and English.

The new scholarly series, "Van Gogh Studies" offers an international platform for research into nineteenth century, West European art history. The contributions focus on Vincent van Gogh and his contemporaries and are written by internationally acclaimed scholars and provide a richly variegated impression of this area of study. The first issue reveals the diversity of the Eminence grise series. Robert Herbert presents a major study about decorative arts; the nineteenth century French art market and the Salon system is the centrepiece of Robert Jensen and David Galenson's contribution, while Elise Eckermann, June Hargrove and Caroline Boyle-Turner provide remarkable monographs about Gauguin as a painter and sculptor. Joan Greer elucidates in great detail on the publication of Van Gogh's letters in the Flemish journal "Van Nu en Straks" ("Today and Tomorrow") in 1893, while Louis van Tilborgh researches and dates Van Gogh's stay in French painter Fernand Cormon's studio.

This book gives a fascinating account of fifteen centuries of European glass art based on the Gemeentemuseum's dazzling collection in The Hague. This is the first time the collection has been described and illustrated so fully and in such depth. The publication, which with all due modesty, is more like a standard work, has some five hundred illustrations. It is the latest in a series of books - the other three were on Delft pottery and porcelain and silver from The Hague - highlighting the museum's major core collection of decorative arts.

For many people Vermeer's paintings form the highlight of a visit to the Maurithuis. This museum holds three of his paintings; Diana and Her Companions, the exquisite View of Delft and the Girl with a Pearl Earring, all of which have become some of the world's most beloved paintings. Vermeer in the Mauritshuis is aimed at those who want to find out more about these three works of art. This beautifully designed book displays many of the meticulous details that appear in these paintings and explores their relationship with the rest of Vermeer's impressive oeuvre. Selected fragments from the paintings draw attention to aspects that might otherwise go unnoticed; such as the moist lips of the girl in Girl with a Pearl Earring, the play of sunlight on the Nieuwe Kerk in Delft as well as one of the most stunning water reflections in art history. This is the first volume in a series of publications about prominent pieces in the rich collection of the Mauritshuis. 60 colour illustrations