The Ninetynine Tulips podcast is a podcast which is all about tulips! 

I will talk about tulip history as I paint 99 tulips from the era of the tulip mania. And there is so much to talk about. The tulip is part of the Dutch culture, the flower is simply everywhere. In art, events, trade, folklore, in the garden. In the podcast I tell the story of the adventure of discovering the world of the tulip. For this I will read, travel to historic sites and interview experts in all fields related to the tulip - and in The Netherlands that are many! 

Check instagram and ninetynine tulips.com to follow the developments. 

In this episode I talk about how I got the idea to paint ninetynine tulips from the time of the tulip mania. The idea came from a newly discoverd tulip book. That book led me to the rea;ize how little I know of the tulip. In The Netherlands the tulip is all arround, but what do I konw of the flower, the history, the trade, the events - not so much, though the flower is a national symbol. 

When I started to Google it hit me, there is so much to find out and to tell! For many episodes I will share the stories with you. 

Follow the development of the 99 paintings at Instagram 'Arto Dŭaras'.

The nintynine tulips from the era of the tulip mania are based on images from the Dutch tulip book. Which were the flower catalogues of the 17th century. I will paint in the old tradiontal way of tempera on wooden panel covered with a layer of chalk. In this episode  I talk of the process of painting. I link to pictures of the process which you can see at my Instagram account Arto Dŭaras. 

The tulip is a mountain flower originality from Central Asia, It moved with Turkish tribes to what became the Ottoman Empire (present day Turkey). The Ottomans have the credit for the first cultivation of the tulip. In the 16th century bulbs slowly spread into Europe. Carolus Clusius officially introduced the tulip in Holland with his studies of the flower. Popular from the start, tulip bulbs became the subject of speculation, for a short period. The tulip remained popular however and Holland slowly became the world leading nation in tulip growing, cultivation and tulip trade. 

Follow the development of the 99 paintings at Instagram 'Arto Dŭaras'.

Tulip for diner! The tulip is a  pretty flower to look at, but you could also eat it if you want to try something new. That is you can eat the bulb. Every Dutch person knows the stories of the war that people eat tulip bulbs to survive. That made me think, how would a tulip taste? I interviewed cookbook writer Johanna Huiberts who has a biological flowerbulb farm and sells bulb you can use in a culinary experiment!

If you like a copy of the cookbook check Eet Smakelijke Tulp

And check their website at Huiberts biologische bloembollen. 

In this first part of the interviews historian Henk Looijesteijn talks about the events leading up to the independent Dutch republic and the following golden age by the influx of protestant immigrants which boosted developments. In chronological order we follow the development towards the tulip mania. The role of Carolus Clusius with his study of the tulip. An extraordinary flower which can change color but which is diseased. 

Today the continuation of the interview with historian Henk Looijesteijn, we are in the golden century and start of with the symbolical and religious meaning of the tulip. Followed by the names of the tulips in the tulip mania, specifying one special tulip the Semper Augustus, and a slowly growing trade in tulips and growing numbers of bulb growers.  Historians still don’t know or debate about what made the tulip mania happen. We end at the factors which contributed to the craze  as things start to heat up. 

Today we quickly continue with where we left of last week. Things are starting to heat up, people look around and ask themselves, should I join in and make a lot of bucks or should I absolutely not do that as is written in the pamphlets that are being distributed in the town, lets find out...  

Have a look at the mentioned tulip book of the International Instituut of Social Studies

The website of Mr. Henk Looijesteijn.