Drawing on a historical object

June 2009

In 2009, visual artist and gifted draftsman Rodrigo Luff from Sydney visited Amsterdam and was inspired by Dutch painting. Armed with his sketchbook, he copied old masters in the Rijksmuseum and used his own inspiration based on historical compositions. His delicate miniature drawings are full of expression and were a reason to invite him to make such sketches on a Dutch pipe bowl. The fact that this happened precisely on a pipe bowl found in the cesspit of the Rembrandt House made the combination between old art and new interpretations even nicer. Flashing fast, Luff produced a miniature artwork with three portraits in the drawing manner of Rembrandt but coming from contemporary inspiration. His creation makes a link between the simple sketches that we sometimes find on historical pipe bowls, quickly drawn by a smoker, and real artworks with a delicate pen as Luff himself produces, (but which of course are also made by other artists) – maakt het onduidelijk.

Amsterdam Pipe Museum APM 20.080

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