Soft and cuddly

Rooms that epitomize Second Empire luxury and comfort. Soft thick carpets, heavy draped curtains and upholstered furniture with deep close buttoning. Gilt-bronze mantle clocks ticking away the hours. All these elements characterize the costly Parisian interior that Abraham and Louisa Willet-Holthuysen had themselves installed in their Amsterdam canal house around 1865.

The couple were the first to do so in the Dutch capital. In these sumptuous rooms the smartly dressed lady of the house conversed with her lady-companion, read books and cuddled her beloved pets. Her husband collected art and dressed like a dandy, if he was not dressing up in historical costumes, at least. The time of the Willets saw the birth and ascendency of the concept of ‘interior decoration’ and with it came the depiction of the interior as an art form. Paintings and drawings still give a perfect insight into the decorative and social history of the Willets and their time. After Louisa’s death in 1895 their thirty years old interior was still considered a ‘public lecture in style and taste’.

15.30 introduction by Henri Snel (Head of ArchitecturalDesign, Gerrit Rietveld Academie)
15.40 example one minutes, made by Maartje Jaquet
15.50 lecture ‘Soft and cuddly, sensing the 19th century Willet-interior’ by Hubert Vreeken (curator Applied Art and Sculpture, Amsterdam Museum / Museum Willet-Holthuysen)
16.30 tips&tricks by the one minutes foundation
17.00 the end

In collaboration with Sandberg Instituut / Gerrit Rietveld Academie / Amsterdam Museum / Willet-Holthuijsen / Gemeente Amsterdam / AmSterdam 2013.

rsvp: before March 28 bieneke@theoneminutes.org

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Soft and cuddly

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