Dutch Flowers

http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/tentoonstellingen/dutch-flowers-schiphol?lang=en

The Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Schiphol Airport will be exhibiting a group of Dutch flower paintings at the museum’s airport annex in the exhibition Dutch Flowers. For this exhibition, nine exuberant ‘flower pieces’ from the Rijksmuseum’s collection that used to adorn the homes of the 17th-century economic elite are now in full bloom at the airport. Now an everyday item, cut flowers were prized luxuries at that time. Only the most affluent could afford to have them in their homes and gardens. As a result, the first flower still-lifes appeared in Holland in the 1630s and 1640s as a means of meeting the demand for flowers. After all, a painting of a flower was much less expensive then than an actual bouquet and lasted longer. Visitors to Rijksmuseum Schiphol Airport can view these beautiful flower still life paintings for free after passing through passport control at the airport.