Indepth Arts News:
"The Rijksmuseum Comes to Maastricht: Works from the Southern Netherlands on Loan"
2002-03-13 until 2002-05-26
Bonnefanten Museum
Maastricht, ,
NL Netherlands
The Rijksmuseum and the Bonnefanten Museum are pleased to announce a
co-operation agreement. On 12 March 2002, the Netherlands State Secretary
for Culture, Rick van der Ploeg, will seal this agreement by opening the
Rijksmuseum in Maastricht collection wing in the Bonnefanten Museum. The
agreement involves a long-term loan of approximately eighty paintings,
tapestries and glasswork from the Southern Netherlands. These works
wonderfully enhance the Bonnefanten Museum collection. This agreement serves
as a significant step towards making collections more mobile within the
Netherlands.
Next year, the current loan scheme will be extended further due to the
ongoing refurbishment of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, which as a result
will only be able to exhibit the highlights of 17th century art from the
Northern Netherlands.
Together with works from the Bonnefanten Museum's own collection, over 80
works from the Southern Netherlands art collection of the Amsterdam
Rijksmuseum make up the new rijksmuseum in maastricht collection wing.
Paintings from the 'national treasure-house' by such artists as Gerard
David, Jan Brueghel, Antoon van Dyck, Jacob Jordaens and Hendrick Goltzius
will be displayed alongside old aquaintances by Pieter Brueghel the Younger,
Pieter Coecke van Aelst, Joachim Beuckelaer and Pieter Aertsen for a
considerable period of time. With 'Renaissance in the Southern Netherlands'
as the theme, the works on show in the room at the head of the wing examine
the inspiration sought in Italy by Dutch artists. Paintings as well as
tapestries, painted glass roundels and beautifully designed goblets, can be
admired here.
The works of art in the Rijksmuseum in Maastricht exhibition cover the
period from the late 15th to the 17th century. The exhibition comprises
early religious art by artists including Gerard David and Colijn de Coter,
as well as 17th-century art for collectors. Much more so than painting in
the Northern Netherlands, 17th-century painting in the Southern Netherlands
was characterised by the grand gesture. Classical stories and biblical
scenes were often used as a pretext for painting voluptuous nudes on large
canvases, as can be seen in the paintings by Hendrick van Balen and Jacob
Jordaens.
17th-century collector's art can be classified into several distinct groups:
landscapes, Genre paintings and Still lifes. Landscapes, highlighted by the
works of Jacob and Roelant Savery, Kerstiaen de Keuninck, Jan Brueghel the
Elder and Joos de Momper, comprise the first group. In the 16th and 17th
century, the landscape genre developed in the Southern Netherlands from mere
backdrop into an independent specialism. The 'World Landscape', a composed
depiction of the world as seen from above or from a bird's eye perspective,
is characteristic of landscape painting in the Southern Netherlands. genre
paintings form another specialism, with David Teniers, Adriaen Brouwer,
Adriaen van de Venne and David Vinckboons as its most important
practitioners. These paintings depict scenes from the daily life of simple
folk and sometimes contain a moralistic or humorous message below the
surface. still lifes, such as the large ostentatious still life by Adriaen
van Utrecht, were collector's art par excellence.
Jan Vermeyen's portrait of Erard de la Marck recalls the curious political
history of Maastricht. As the prince-bishop of Liege, in Belgium, he
employed numerous artists and sent them to Italy to learn the visual
language of the Renaissance. De la Marck was also the sovereign of part of
the population of Maastricht. As such, the return of his portrait to
Maastricht from Amsterdam is essentially a homecoming.
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