PAN Amsterdam
Celebrating its 35th anniversary, the Netherlands’ leading art fair presents works spanning five millennia of art history
1. Don’t forget to think outside the box,
Studio Irma
128 × 74.5 × 11.5 cm Rademakers Gallery ,
With a focus on women artists, Rademakers Gallery includes this interactive video piece by Studio Irma. Since , Dutch artist Irma van Vries has expanded her practice to create large-scale installations that explore how digital technologies help artists to engage with viewers. This smaller immersive work hangs in a wooden frame and reacts to the movement of passers-by and those standing in front of it.
2. Roses with a Butterfly, Bluebottle and a Snail on a Stone Ledge,(c. )
Ernst Stuven (c. 1657 – 1712 )
36.1 × 31.1 cm
Oil on canvas
Lawrence Steigrad Fine Arts ,
The German baroque painter honed his talent for floral stilllife painting in the studio of the Dutch Golden Age master Willem van Aelst. The New York-based Old Master specialists are presenting a selection of works from the th through to th centuries, including Stuven’s Roses. The painting takes in the full cycle of natural life, depicting a butterfly, symbolising a period of transition, and a snail, representing decay. . Indo-Portuguese Colonial Gujarati casket with silver mounts, late th century
16 × 24.6 × 16.1 cm
Mother of pearl, silver mounts Zebregs&Röell Fine Art and Antiques
€220,000
Made from an exotic wood thought to be teak, this
th-century Gujarati casket is gilded in mother-of-pearl tesserae tiles cut from the shell of the green turban sea snail. Engraved silver mounts replace the original brass fixtures, and the pins are in an unusual Mannerist style believed to be the work of a Portuguese silversmith during the latter half of the century.
4. The Birth of the Mother of God, late th century Egg tempura on canvas on wood
32.8 × 26.8 cm Tóth-Ikonen Gallery
€9,500
The Birth of the Virgin depicted in this Russian icon follows a traditional iconographic form with an illustration that is both homely and intimate. Anna lies on the bed in the centre, while servants bring food and drink for strength. In the foreground, preparations for the ritual first washing of the child are taking place. The newborn Mary sits on the lap of the midwife, as she checks the temperature of the bath water with her hand.