Hindeloopen - Dutch Stylized Art

Last week, my husband and I spent a week in New York’s Hudson River Valley, and everywhere we went, we found evidence of the Dutch influence on that area, including a type of art known as Hindeloopen. According to Dutch Proverbs by Holly Flame Heusinkveld and Jean Carris-Osland, Hindeloopen was a thriving seaport on the Zuider Zee in northwest Netherlands. During the Baroque and Rococo periods, guild and self-taught painters lavished their decoration skills on painted wood surfaces, such as furniture and walls, in an attempt to brighten home interiors and add inspiration to their surroundings. Hindeloopen villagers developed a distinct style of painting. Drawing from the scrolls of the Baroque period, the exotic birds of East Indian art, and the stylization of flower forms, the Hindeloopen painters came up with unique folk art forms. The objective was to fill a space, be it a table leg, door panel or storage chest, with flowers and berries or birds, in a stylized fashion.

In a Dutch colonial home, you may have found Hindeloopen artwork used to illustrate a proverb, such as "Zwijgen antwoordt veel." (Silence answers much.) Words of wisdom that I could benefit from (or so my husband tells me).