Special Events
ECVP 2008 will host several special events, some of which are open to the public. The first special event is 'Don't believe your eyes!', which is especially intended for kids and their parents. This event is open to the public. On monday the 25th, Professor Ernst van de Wetering will give a lecture on Rembrandt. This lecture is open to the public. For attends of ECVP, there will be a conference banquet (registration required, go here). ECVP 2008 also organizes a party. For an interactive map of all the ECVP 2008 venues, go here.
ECVP 2008 offers a partner program, for information go here.
Special event: Don't believe your eyes!
Sponsored by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO)
Sunday August 24, at the Utrecht University Museum (open to the public)
A visual science event at the Utrecht University Museum especially for kids and their parents. With from 12.00-16.00 every hour an interactive workshop by a visual scientist on visual illusions. The museum also contains the heritage of Utrecht scientists, like the famous Dutch visual scientist Franciscus Cornelis Donders. Open to the general public and all attendees of the ECVP are very welcome. Go here for more information about the event.
Utrecht University Museum
Lange Nieuwstraat 106
11.00 a.m. - 17.00 p.m.
Entrance fee on Sunday 24 August for 0-17 years old: free, adults €3.50.
website of museum
Special lecture: Rembrandt's home made (?) perception theories
by Prof. Ernst van de Wetering
Sponsored by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO)
Monday August 25, 19:00, at the Dom (open to the public)
Prof. Dr. Ernst van de Wetering
Emeritus Professor Art History
University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Director Rembrandt Research Project
Abstract
Rembrandt must have thought intensively about the relation between human perception and the art of painting and drawing. Some of these insights are explicitly formulated in a book on the art of painting by his pupil Samuel van Hoogstraten, other presumed theories can be deduced from his manner of working. In the lecture these ideas will be presented and discussed with the help of (detail) slides of Rembrandt’s works.
Biography (by Prof. Dr. Wim van de Grind)
Prof. Ernst van de Wetering (1938), director of the Rembrandt Research Project, has dedicated almost 40 years of his impressive academic career to Rembrandt and his work. In comparison to other art historians he has the advantage of being a painter himself. He received his training as an artist at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in the Hague. After that he studied art history and received his doctorate from the University of Amsterdam. He was a staff member of Amsterdam's Central Research Laboratory for Objects of Art & Science (1969-1987), and a full professor of history of art at Amsterdam University (1987-2005). Since 1993 he is Director of the Rembrandt Research Project (RRP), of which he had been a member since 1968. He contributed significantly to "A Corpus of Rembrandt Paintings" (so far 4 volumes) produced by the RRP Foundation, a hugely influential, authorative series of books that still sets the parameters for the study of Rembrandt's art. His own book "Rembrandt. The painter at work" (1997) has also been widely praised and cited. In 2003 Ernst van de Wetering received the Heritage Preservation/College Art Association Joint Award for Distinction in Scholarship and Conservation. In 2003 he was Slade professor at Oxford University and also in 2003 he was knighted by the Dutch queen. Van de Wetering's work on the "Study of an Elderly Woman in a White Bonnet" (reported by various sources on the internet and in the New York Times of Sep 22, 2005) can serve as one of many possible examples to illustrate the relevance of his work for vision scientists. When Ernst van de Wetering first examined this presumed Rembrandt, he saw that the light reflected off the fur collar of the old lady "didn't make sense". Rembrandt was a master of practical ecological optics, making it unlikely that he could have painted this. It was subsequently discovered that the fur collar had been added later by another painter. There was a whitish collar underneath that fully explained the painted secondary light reflections. The original Rembrandt painting could eventually be recovered. A reconstruction of the room with a live model with light obliquely from behind proved to emulate the various light effects painted by Rembrandt. In studies like these we recognize the perceptual concerns of van de Wetering and of Rembrandt: the properties of light fields and their interactions with materials, objects and people. What could be more appropriate at an ECVP-meeting in the Netherlands than to learn more about Rembrandt's insights in visual perception from the greatest expert on the life and work of this master of re-created light?
Wednesday August 27, at the Leeuwenberghkerk (for ECVP attendants)
This year's conference banquet will be held downtown Utrecht in a historical building called 'De Leeuwenbergh'. This venue was built in 1567 and had many functions (hospital, lab, church). The guests are expected from 19.30 on and the diner will start at 20.00 hours. Vegetarian food is available.
There is still space for those who haven't registered yet. Tickets (€45,-) are available at the registration desk. Payment in cash (exact change only!).
Join us and enjoy the food!
Thursday August 28, at Club Arena (for ECVP attendants)
Descend to the Old Canal in the heart of Utrecht and join us in the catacombs of the historic city hall for a party that you will remember!!
We will kick off in the Arena with the melodic and rocky sounds of vision scientist CHRIS MULLER and his band SKELET. Next, the illustrious Utrecht dj SIEGER THE CUBE will keep you dancing. When your legs are tired, have a drink in the BAR or lounge away with a cocktail in the CUBAN CAFE. The Latin sounds may even seduce you to a little salsa. Don't miss it - and a FREE DRINK for the first 80 guests!!
Party location:
Arena, Stadhuisbrug 3: That is under the City Hall and de 'Winkel van
Sinkel', the entrance is down the stairs at the canal.
Partner Program ECVP 2008, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Organizers of the partner program: Anneke van den Berg, Maria Erkelens en Åse van de Grind.
The organizers will be present from noon untill 4 pm on Sunday August 24th, in the Academy Building for further information. However, due to booking requirements, the following two events require registration by email before August 10th.
Arrangement 1: Centraal Museum, Tuesday August 26 2008
The first arrangement is a guided tour of the exhibition ‘Rietveld’s Slender Space Sculptures and other creations of the avant-garde’ in one of the nicest museums of Utrecht: the 'Centraal Museum'. The tour, especially arranged for the ECVP, starts at 11 am and lasts about 90 minutes. The maximum number of participants per group is set at 20. The exhibition bears witness to the enthusiasm and excited experimentation of a group of Dutch artists in the first quarter of the 20th century. At the heart of this exhibition is the Rietveld Collection, which comprises not only work by the cabinet-maker and architect Gerrit Rietveld, but also by Theo van Doesburg, Bart van der Leck, J.J.P Oud, Hendrik Berlage, Erich Wichman, and many others – friends, colleagues and teachers. After the guided tour you can continue your tour of the museum at your own leisure.
Admission including the guided tour is € 15,- per person, payable in advance (cash in euros) to the organizers of the partner program, who will be present during registration on Sunday. For the tour, we gather on Tuesday morning 10.30 am in front of the entrance of the Academy Building and walk from there to the museum. It is possible to pay the admission fee to one of the accompanying organizers if you can not make it on Sunday. The Museum is a 10 minutes walk from the Academy Building (there is also a bus connenction).
It is necessary to register by email before August 10 2008, so that a guide can be hired for the group. To register, send an email and clearly indicate which of the arrangements (1, 2, or both) you want to join. First come, first served!
Detailed information on the exhibition can be found here.
Arrangement 2: Catherijneconvent, Wednesday August 27 2008
On Wednesday August 27 you can take part in a so-called 'Golden Arrangement' at the Museum Catharijneconvent in Utrecht, specially arranged for the ECVP. The arrangement lasts from 11 am untill 3 pm. After the reception with coffee and pastry, we will start a guided tour covering the exhibition ‘Painted with Passion, Masterpieces from the Golden Age’. After the tour you are offered an extensive lunch, followed by a guided tour on foot through the city center of Utrecht with special emphasis on the Golden Age (the seventeenth century).
Admission for the ‘Golden arrangement” is € 40,- per person, payable in advance (cash in euros) to the organizers of the partner program, who will be present during registration on Sunday. This includes museum entrance fee, coffee with pastry, guided tour of the exhibition, lunch and the guided city-tour. We will get together on Wednesday morning 10.30 am in front of the entrance of the Academy Building and walk to the museum. It is possible to pay the admission fee to one of the accompanying organizers if you can not make it on Sunday.
It is necessary to register by email before August 10 2008, so that the arrangement can be booked for the group. To register, send an email and clearly indicate which of the arrangements (1, 2, or both) you want to join. First come, first served! First come, first served!
Detailed information on the exhibition can be found here.