Rijksmuseum Amsterdam - health in art : art in health

I arrived in Amsterdam last night and spent today, 8 hours in the Rijksmuseum. It is an amazing experience, even to just scratch the surface. Early on it was not busy! Entering the building, is as publicised, to discover a remarkable series of spaces.

There are so many highlights of a rewarding day. One must be within the final hour 1610 finding one of Van Gogh's self portraits. Van Gogh finds himself placed in the interpersonal domain not just by virtue of this self portrait, but his struggle with mental health and  hospitalisations.

individual
INTERPERSONAL : SCIENCES

humanistic ------------------------------------------- mechanistic

SOCIOLOGY : POLITICAL

group

Samuel Dirksz van Hoogstraten [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

There were many other (ill-)health related examples (and many that are also bright and humorous).

The sick child. The Sick Woman....

When initially viewing Visiting the Sick you have some searching to do. The sick individual themselves and the doctor are rather lost in the background. The painting stresses the sociological, domestic aspects of health past and present.

In Visiting the Sick and The Anemic Woman we get a view of the way outside (possibly of spiritual significance?) and another room through doorways. From TV, reading and my visit today, this is a common device within Dutch genre painting. If we have a diagnosis now in the 21st century, we still need to look through the windows and doors that relate to the individual and their social situation. In the age of the interface and partitions we still need to negotiate them.  Doorways, windows and portals as changes in knowledge content, can in the form of care domains illuminate the boundary of what is objective and subjective. This is central in health and social care.


Van Gogh self portrait source:
http://historiek.net/chinezen-zeer-geinteresseerd-in-van-gogh/13217/#.VCb5mRbivTo

The Anemic Woman image source:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Samuel_van_Hoogstraten_-_The_Anaemic_Lady_-_WGA11719.jpg