Their solution was to yield most of the canvas or panel to the gray, fog-and cloud-filled sky (curator Emilie Gordenker, director of the Mauritshuis, calls them "our Dutch mountains"), with blue openings torn into the gray here and there so that spots of sunlight could illuminate parts of the land or water below.
"I have no time for the Europe of the blue flag and the little stars, some elevated ideal, " said Mr Rutte, speaking to Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad.