Category Archives: Netherlands

Van Gogh and Gauguin letter about brothel visit sells for €210,000

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‘Exceptional’ correspondence sent from Arles in 1888 is bought by Van Gogh Museum

A letter written by two of the greatest artists of the 19th century, Vincent van Gogh and Paul Gauguin, about their visits to French brothels has been bought for the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam for €210,600 (£189,000).

The correspondence, previously held in private hands, has been described as “exceptional”. The two painters entwine descriptions of their experiences living together in Arles, Provence, with claims of certainty that their work is leading a “great renaissance of art”.

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Unilever picks London as its home over Rotterdam

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Anglo-Dutch conglomerate denies U-turn after finally choosing the UK capital over Dutch city as its HQ

Unilever has picked London as its home in an about-face on the company’s 2018 decision to “go Dutch” which was abandoned after a revolt by British shareholders.

Despite a fresh internal review that this time selected London rather than Rotterdam as the location of its headquarters, the Unilever chairman, Nils Andersen, insisted it was not a flip-flop but a pragmatic way to complete an overdue overhaul of its unwieldy corporate structure.

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Velázquez painting brought to life by historical reenactment group in Seville

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Surrender of Breda, immortalised by painter, was significant moment in Dutch war of independence

Anyone wandering along a quiet street in central Seville at 8.30pm on Saturday would have witnessed the odd sight of a 17th-century Dutch governor wearing a Covid-19 mask as he once again handed over his city to Spanish forces.

The Surrender of Breda, a significant moment in the Dutch war of independence immortalised in Diego Velázquez’s eponymous painting, was brought to life by a historical reenactment group to mark the 395th anniversary of the event, and the Spanish painter’s 421st birthday – both on 5 June, albeit 26 years apart.

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Vitamin K could help fight coronavirus, study suggests

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Scientists in Netherlands explore possible link between deficiency and Covid-19 deaths

Patients who have died or been admitted to intensive care with Covid-19 have been found to be deficient in a vitamin found in spinach, eggs and hard and blue cheeses, raising hopes that dietary change might be one part of the answer to combating the disease.

Researchers studying patients who were admitted to the Canisius Wilhelmina hospital in the Dutch city of Nijmegen have extolled the benefits of vitamin K after discovering a link between deficiency and the worst coronavirus outcomes.

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‘Hyper-resolution’ image of Rembrandt painting aids restoration restart

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Lockdown delays restoration of The Night Watch, but it can be viewed online in ‘minute detail’

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has posted online the most detailed photograph ever taken of Rembrandt’s The Night Watch, revealing every brushstroke and random fleck of paint.

The so-called hyper-resolution image was launched as the museum announced a delay to the completion of the painting’s restoration, which was begun last year and live-streamed to a global audience.

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Death of five surfers in storm shocks Netherlands

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Fears more victims could be found after experienced group caught in heavy seas and thick sea foam off coast of The Hague

At least five experienced surfers have drowned after going out in stormy weather off the coast of The Hague, Dutch authorities have said.

The group of men, aged between 22 and 38, were among 10 surfers and swimmers who took to the water in Scheveningen on Monday evening in heavy weather that generated a thick layer of sea foam and hampered rescue efforts.

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Coronavirus has revealed the EU’s fatal flaw: the lack of solidarity | Shahin Vallée

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There has been little political will to pool taxes, borrowing and spending to support states worst hit. But it is the only way out

The European summit last week was hailed as a moment of truth. In a recent interview, France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, laid out how European leaders had a rendezvous with history and needed to come together, and show that Europe under duress was able to respond with a common voice and with common means to the Covid-19 crisis. By all measures, this rendezvous with history was missed. European leaders in effect agreed to keep calm and carry on.

They endorsed a roadmap to exit lockdown after each country had in fact already decided and announced their own uncoordinated exit plans. In some countries, such as Germany, deconfinement measures are not a prerogative of the federal government and coordinating between states is challenging enough, let alone coordinating with other countries.

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Is comparing Covid-19 death rates across Europe helpful?

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Belgium appears hardest hit on paper, but not all countries count non-hospital fatalities

Every day, the statistics bring more grim headlines: “Italian death toll passes 20,000”, “Record UK daily death toll”, “Europe’s fatalities pass 100,000”. Across the world, people await national updates on the coronavirus – and compare their country with others.

The comparison game has been especially marked in Belgium, which on paper has the unhappy title of highest number of Covid-19 deaths per capita in Europe. Belgium – population 11.5 million – has counted at least 6,675 deaths since the start of the outbreak, more than Germany, which is nearly eight times more populous.

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Coronavirus delivers a ‘moment of truth’ on the meaning of the EU

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The issue of recovery funds shapes up as an acid test of commitment to the union

The EU’s anxious debate over the bloc’s economic response to the coronavirus pandemic is at heart about the nature and competing visions of the union.

It is a perennial question found lurking in the background of all EU negotiations over long-term budgets, not least the most recent inconclusive and toxic talks in which north was pitted against south.

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How Covid-19 poured cold water on Netherlands’ EU romance

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Dutch opposition to recovery spending has overtones of British disillusionment

Isolated in a recent European Union council of ministers, with attitudes described by European leaders past and present as “repugnant”.

It sounds like an old script of Britain in the EU. Yet it is the Netherlands that has found itself at the heart of the union’s most bitter row during the coronavirus pandemic. As EU leaders meet on Thursday for their fourth virtual crisis summit in seven weeks, the Dutch will once again be in the vanguard of opposition to plans for big spending on the recovery.

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Dutch court approves euthanasia in cases of advanced dementia

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Ruling means doctors cannot be prosecuted even if patient no longer says they want to die

Doctors in the Netherlands are able to carry out euthanasia on patients with severe dementia without fear of prosecution even if the patient no longer expresses an explicit wish to die, the country’s highest court has ruled.

The supreme court’s decision followed a landmark case last year in which a doctor was acquitted of wrongdoing for euthanising a woman in 2016 with severe Alzheimer’s who had requested the procedure before her condition deteriorated.

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Dutch flower park’s virtual tour brings its blooms to living rooms

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Keukenhof will showcase 7m plants to online viewers after coronavirus forces closure

The 7m bulbs were planted and now the flowers are in bloom: tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, orchids, roses, lilies and more. Everything is ready at the Dutch flower park of Keukenhof – everything, except the visitors.

For the first time in its 71-year history, the renowned flower park in South Holland will not open to the public. Instead, managers hope to bring the park to the people via a virtual opening. Every week, three new videos are posted on social media showcasing the profusion of blooms in the English-style landscape park.

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Coronavirus: who will be winners and losers in new world order?

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Are state responses to the virus shifting the balance of power between China and the west?

Andrà tutto bene, the Italians have taught us to think, but in truth, will everything be better the day after? It may seem premature, in the midst of what Emmanuel Macron has described as “a war against an invisible enemy”, to consider the political and economic consequences of a distant peace. Few attempt a definitive review of a play after the first three scenes.

Yet world leaders, diplomats and geopolitical analysts know they are living through epoch-making times and have one eye on the daily combat, the other on what this crisis will bequeath the world. Competing ideologies, power blocs, leaders and systems of social cohesion are being stress-tested in the court of world opinion.

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Amsterdam to Paris in 90 minutes? Dutch tout hyperloop as future of travel

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North Holland thinks unproven 600mph magnetic hovertrain could help replace air travel

Swifter than trains, safer than cars and far less damaging to the environment than planes, the Dutch province of North Holland believes the hyperloop might be the future.

Plans are being drawn up for Amsterdam to be connected to other European cities by the futuristic high-speed mode of transportation comprising a magnetic hovertrain in an air-free tube able to travel at speeds of over 600mph due to the lack of friction and drag.

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EU members clash over pandemic economic rescue package

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France and Netherlands at odds on finance ministers’ €500bn compromise

France and the Netherlands have openly clashed over the meaning of a messy compromise struck by finance ministers which has unlocked a €500bn (£438bn) pandemic rescue package for European economies but left major issues unresolved.

Hours after a breakthrough was secured late on Thursday evening to allow immediate support for businesses and healthcare systems, it became clear on Friday that there remained bitter divisions within the EU over the longer-term task of rebuilding the European economy.

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EU strikes €500bn relief deal for countries hit hardest by pandemic

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Compromise reached after Netherlands relents on ‘economic surveillance’ of beneficiary nations

A messy compromise to unlock €500bn (£438bn) of EU support for countries hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic has been struck after Italy’s prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, warned that the existence of the bloc was at stake.

EU finance ministers on a video conference call struck a deal late on Thursday after the Netherlands shifted on a demand for “economic surveillance” of countries benefiting from €240bn of credit lines via the European stability mechanism, a bailout fund for struggling member states.

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Coronavirus could be final straw for EU, European experts warn

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Leaders are warned that if division prevails, pandemic will be more destructive than Brexit, migration and bailout crises

The European Union has weathered the storms of eurozone bailouts, the migration crisis and Brexit, but some fear coronavirus could be even more destructive.

In a rare intervention Jacques Delors, the former European commission president who helped build the modern EU, broke his silence last weekend to warn that lack of solidarity posed “a mortal danger to the European Union”.

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Van Gogh painting stolen from Dutch museum

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Thieves have stolen the £5m Parsonage Garden at Neunen in Spring by the famous artist from the Singer Laren museum

A painting by Vincent van Gogh with an estimated value of up to £5m has been stolen from a Dutch museum currently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The thieves took Van Gogh’s Parsonage Garden at Neunen in Spring after smashing through the front glass door of the Singer Laren museum, in Laren, at around 3.15am on Sunday morning. No other art is believed to be missing.

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Utrecht rooftops to be ‘greened’ with plants and mosses in new plan

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‘Vertical forest’ tower will have 10,000 plants on its facade in bid to reinvigorate biodiversity

Every roof in the city district of Utrecht is to be “greened” with plants and mosses or have solar panels installed under plans driven by the success of a similar scheme for the municipality’s bus stops.

The “no roofs unused” policy is part of an attempt to reinvigorate biodiversity in the city and create a less stressful and happier environment, of which the construction of a so-called “vertical forest tower with 10,000 plants on its facade is set to become a leading example.

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