Hand-painted wallpaper, a Dutch Heritage The Dutch Golden Age is famous for its painters like Rembrandt, Vermeer and Rubens. But little is known about hand-painted wallpapers from that period. Painting landscapes on paper was a typical Dutch craft. Between the 17th and the 18th century hundreds of walls must have been covered with hand-painted wallpapers as a sign of luxury and wealth. In the 17th century hand-painted wallpaper was a less expensive replacement for Tapestries (Gobelins). Another advantage was that clients could order customized wall coverings and choose size, style and subject of the sceneries. During the early 18th century hand-painted wallpapers were made accessible for all. The Dutch had a dozen workplaces and factories producing handpainted wallpaper on a massive scale. In the early 19th century the hand-painted wallpaper became less popular and factories had to close. This was mostly due to a diminished Dutch economy and the foreign industrial revolution, which introduced printed wallpaper. By the 20th century large town houses and estates where converted into offices, hospitals or schools. The (detachable) hand-painted wallpapers where considered impractical and were mostly sold to foreign buyers as works of art. The consequence is that only a few survived in the Netherlands.
Gardens on Paper
About two hundred years later, wallpaper artists Marcelo Gimenes and Jaap Snijder picked up this ‘forgotten craft’. “After exploring remaining wallpaper samples in museums we decided to revive Dutch tradition of custom designed wallpaper sceneries”. Each design is completely handmade and is inspired by nature. With endless passion they paint flowers, plants and birds. Leaf by leaf creating beautiful gardens on paper.
New techniques
“We use just ordinary wall paint on heavy non-woven paper, this requires a different way of working but it creates a great atmosphere with its bright colours and matte appearance”. By working together on one design they mix their styles into something new never losing track of its decorative purpose...the wallpaper should always fit in the room for which it was intended.
Mata Atlântica in Amsterdam Inspired by the botanical book “Historia Naturalis Brasiliae” commissioned by Count Johan Maurits (Governor Dutch-Brazil 1637-1644), we created this wallpaper for this impressive house in the center of Amsterdam. The wallpaper depicts the Mata Atlântica around São Paulo, Brazil. With a flora and fauna setting of a typical landscape of São Paulo country side with the mountain Pico do Jaraguá, the purple Manaca da Serra, the yellow Guapuruvu and of course the little capibara’s under a Flamboyant tree. Both wallpapers are painted separated in our studio with the same light as the conservatory to create more depth and realisme. We used a grey-green color scheme to match the existing paneling and ceilings of the historical rooms. In total we have painted over 24 square meters over a period of approximately 4 months.
The conservatory under construction.
The samples fitted on the walls to see the overal effect of light and color.
Presenting the first sketches to the team.
Choosing the colors of the paneling in the conservatory
The sample piece with the major wallpaper elements like the Manaca da Serra and the yellow Guapuruvu
Final sketch left wall
Final sketch right wall
The wallpaper measures over 3 meters high...
Lots of different skies to try to get the right amount of blues and greys...
Overview of our studio, a perfect space to paint the two wallpapers. A total of 24m2. A 5 meter heigh ceiling makes it a lot more easy to work...
The light condition is similar to the conservatory.
Two typical parrots (Tiriba de Testa vermelha) from the Mata Atlântica
The final result after 11 weeks. Just some small touch ups and it is ready to be shipped.
Legenda right wall 1
5
Guariroba (syagnus oleracea)
2 bromelia (aechmea calyculate) 3 maracuja ornamental (Passiflora edmundoi sacco) 4 CANA de Aรงucar (Saccharum barberi) 5 Guapuruvu (schizolobium parahyba) 6 Falso iris (neomarica caerulea) 7 beija flor de banda branca (amazilia versicolor) 8 Tiriba de testa vermelha (pyrrhura frontalis) 9 garรงa boiadeira (bubulcus ibis) 11
10 benedito de testa amarela (melanerpes flavifrons) not born yet 11 patinho (platyrinhchus mystaceus) 12 Primavera (bougainvillea glabra) 13 pico do jaraguรก 14 Lambari (tradescantia zebrina)
3
6
14
10
8
12
7
4
13
1
1 6
2
9
14
13
5
10
3 11 6 1
12 9 8
Legenda right wall 1
Guariroba (syagnus oleracea)
2 Alma de gato (piaya cayana) 3 ave do paraĂso (strelitzia reginae) 4 Bem-te-vi (pitangus sulphuratus) 5 Primavera (bougainvillea glabra) 6 Falso iris (neomarica caerulea) 7 Orquidea (aerides multiflorum) 8 capivara (hidrochoerus hydrochaeris)
2
9 flamboyant (delomit regina) 10 coleirinho (sporophila caerulescens) not born yet 11 mandioca (manihot esculenta) 12 SAVACU DE COROA (NYCTANASSA VIOLACEA) 13 MANACA DA SERrA (TIBOUCHINA MUTABILIS)
4
14 Lambari (tradescantia zebrina)
7
1
14
The final result! The two Arne Jacobsen Egg chairs in a matching green color makes it a perfect room!
Studio & showroom | Koningsveldestraat 14 | snijder-co.nl | info@snijder-co.nl 3037 VS Rotterdam | The Netherlands | +31 (0)6 414 91 226