Private Lectures

& Private Guided Vermeer Art Tour

by Vermeer specialist Drs Kees Kaldenbach

See all 7 famous Vermeer paintings in Holland in a new light!

German language as well: Man spricht auch Deutsch

Programme of Tours, Menu in Chinese

Imagine being the privileged guest of honour at the home of art historian Kees Kaldenbach. While sipping a fragrant cup of coffee or tea, you listen to his personalized (private or small-group) lecture and discussion on the astounding visual wonders that the Delft painter Johannes Vermeer has bestowed upon us.

Afterwards, a short ride by private car or tram takes us to the nearby Rijksmuseum (additional entry fee). In the museum I will quietly point out and explain the visual wonders of Vermeer's technique; contents, brushstrokes, details, composition, colour. Please note the Rijksmuseum is open and due to construction work only shows its highlights up to 2011.

You may also arrange this VIP treatment for business contacts or friends. Lectures (in Dutch, English or German + translations into Japanese or Chinese) are given in plain, accessible language. Thus you will be the beneficiary of exciting tailor-made education during your travels.

Complete Listing of tours

Photo by Dick Martin.

It is a rare and unique privilege that the Rijksmuseum has linked from the main Rijksmuseum site to my site. Start at www.rijksmuseum.nl and select Collection, after which you choose Digital Collaboration and the Digital Vermeer House.

Total time of this Vermeer tour: about 2 1/2 hours

Lecture at my home:1 hour.

Transport to the Amsterdam museum: 1/2 hour

Museum: about 1 hour ; I can bypass the waiting on line.

This lecture is available on times which we mutually agree, 7 days a week. Pre-bookings are required.

Minimum: 3 persons. Smaller groups are negotiable.

Maximum: Groups will be limited to 8-10 persons. Price per person is lower in a larger group.

Tours about architecture may take place in larger groups, up to about 20.

Optional programmes.

An additional option (perhaps on another day) is a visit to the Royal Collection The Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague, which houses several other renowned Vermeer paintings, including his famous 'Girl with the Pearl Earring' and 'View of Delft'.

In case of transport in Mr Kaldenbach's private car, clients are requested to sign a legal waiver. You will either ride in the car of Mr. Kaldenbach, seating up to 3 to 4 passengers) or ride in a minibus (seating 4 up to 8 passengers). This minibus will probably be driven by Mr Noltes who is both a geography teacher and a qualified taxi driver. During the ride he will be able to tell you fascinating details about landscape and human habitation.

If Drs. Kaldenbach is unavailable for any reason, a high quality substitute will take his place!

About Art Historian Drs. Kees Kaldenbach.

Drs. Kees Kaldenbach has been featured in television and radio documentaries, including BBC2 TV, NTV Japan, Danish TV DKR and the Radio Netherlands World service. In July 2004 he was interviewed about Delft artists by Tetsuya Tsuruhara for the leading Japanese newspaper The Yomiuri Shimbun. In 2004 and 2005 he acted in an advisory role to additional BBC teams. Kaldenbach has written extensively on Vermeer and 17th century Delft.

Further information is available on his web site: www.johannesvermeer.info

See the TV programme on Dutch national TV on Kees Kaldenbach as masseur and art historian.

Drs. Kees Kaldenbach is your private "scholar-lecturer on culture tours".*

*Martha Gellhorn, Travels with Myself and another, page 182.

Map of Haarlemmermeerstraat, Amsterdam. Please note this tricky situation: there is another street in town that sounds almost the same: Haarlemmerstraat. You need to go to my street, Haarlemmermeerstraat. Take tram 2 to Hoofddorpplein square or tram 1 to Suriname plein square.

Contact information:

Drs. Kees Kaldenbach

Haarlemmermeerstraat 83 hs

1058 JS Amsterdam

The Netherlands

telephone 020 - 669 8119 (from abroad NL +20 - 669 8119)

cell phone 06 - 2868 9775 (from abroad NL +6 - 2868 9775)

How to get there:

- by car: ring road exit S 106 towards the centre, then 1st to the right (paid parking)

- by trams 1 and 17; exit at Surinameplein

- by tram 2; exit Hoofddorpplein.

From the museum square it takes a 10-minute tram ride.

From Museum square by foot through the Vondelpark it is a 20-30 min walk.

Email kalden@xs4all.nl

Read client testimonials.

Complete Listing of tours

What if you have already seen the Rijksmuseum Vermeer paintings and wish to understand more? The next day - or yet another day which fits your travel schedule - we could have another lecture in my salon or back garden on the series of paintings in the Royal Collection in The Hague, among which is the famous Girl with the Pearl Earring. After this home lecture we will take either a train ride or a ride in my small car to the Royal Collection of Paintings, Mauritshuis, The Hague. At the Mauritshuis I will provide some subdued pointers on ways of seeing and understanding. Lecture time between 1 and 2 hours. Travel time 1 hour each way in good road traffic. Mauritshuis time inside about 1 hour to 1.5 hrs.

To the right: Before restoration.

After restoration is below. Spot the differences.

In an added third leg of the Vermeer tour to The Hague you may also seek my company when we walk in the historic city of Delft where I could show you the fabric of seventeenth century life and art - see Delft Artists and Patrons in the yellow menu. Travel time 1 hour in good road traffic. Delft walking tour about 1 to 2 hours.

Endorsements

I perform art walks for the Netherlands Bureau of Tourism, London Office and New York City office. The clients they serve are often top ranking journalists.

The magazine www.luxurytraveler.com has devoted a main feature to my tours and walks.

Reaction, questions? Drs. Kees Kaldenbach, art historian and Vermeer specialist, kalden@xs4all.nl Haarlemmermeerstraat 83hs, 1058 JS Amsterdam (near Surinameplein, ring road exit s106, streetcar tram 1 and 17).

Telephone 020 669 8119; cell phone 06 - 2868 9775.

Open seven days a week.

Member of VVV Amsterdam Tourist info and the Amsterdam Chamber of Commerce.

E mail esponses to art historian Drs. Kees Kaldenbach.

This page forms part of the 2000+ item Vermeer web site at www.xs4all.nl/~kalden

Launched April 15, 2004. Updated June 9, 2010.

Read client testimonials.

Complete Listing of tours

======== Links ===========

Menu of tours

Read unbiased opinions about hotels and vacations at TripAdvisor.

Links to other art historians

as tour guides around the world:

In Rome, Italy I recommend ms. Bianca Baracchi, immagini-parole@iol.it

In Florence, Italy I recommend ms. Mary Ellen Lawrence MaryEllen@ItalyandMore.com, web site www.ItalyandMore.com

In Florence I also endorse Waldemar H. de Boer, PhD. www.arthistoryflorence.com

International Contacts listing

European Cultural and Activity Tours

Marina Veronica Art Tours, Boston

and www.bestlinkstoholland.nl

holland.nl

Inspiration for travelling artists

Fine Art & Art Movements All you need to know about art periods, art prints, art galleries, and artist biographies