CODART, Dutch and Flemish art in museums worldwide

CODARTfocus Budapest

CODARTfocus 26-27 October 2014

Study visit to the Szépművészeti Múzeum in Budapest

On 26 and 27 October 2014 CODART was invited by CODART members Ildikó Ember and Júlia Tátrai, curators of the Szépművészeti Múzeum in Budapest, to focus on the exhibition Rembrandt and the Dutch Golden Age. The introduction to the exhibition, which Ildikó Ember gave on Sunday 26 October is now available online: On the genesis of the show Rembrandt and the Dutch Golden Age in Budapest. Júlia Tátrai’s lecture, which she gave on Monday 27 October, on The History of the Dutch and Flemish Art Collection of the Szépművészeti Múzeum can also be accessed.

With this exhibition, the Szépművészeti Múzeum aims to once again open the public’s eyes to the exceptional greatness and impressive versatility of the Dutch Golden Age, one of the summits of European civilization. In order to achieve this ambitious goal, the museum has been able to gain the enthusiastic and most precious support of the leading public art collections from all over the world, including the Rijksmuseum of Amsterdam and the Nationalmuseum of Stockholm.

Participants of this CODARTfocus meeting will have the exclusive opportunity to visit the exhibition and to study the collection of Dutch and Flemish masters in the Old Masters’ Gallery – including many works which are normally held in store – before the opening of the exhibition on 29 October.

On Sunday 26 October curator Ildikó Ember will give an introduction to the exhibition Rembrandt and the Dutch Golden Age. Afterwards, Ildikó Ember and Júlia Tátrai will guide us through the exhibition, including discussion in front of the paintings. In the evening, dinner is offered by the Szépművészeti Múzeum.

On Monday 27 October the museum will be closed to the public but exclusively open for us. In the morning, András Fáy, chief restorer at the Szépművészeti Múzeum, and Rudi Ekkart, director emeritus of the RKD, will give a lecture on the research and restoration of Aelbert Cuyp’s Portrait of the Sam family. After lunch the study of some ‘problematic’ research issues from the collection, under the guidance of Rudi Ekkart, will follow. This part of the program also includes an introduction by Christiaan Vogelaar, chief curator of Museum De Lakenhal, on The Parable of the Hidden Treasure (formerly attributed to Rembrandt and Dou). In the early evening we are invited by the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Hungary for a festive reception.

For more information about the program, registration and practical information, please follow the links in the sidebar on the right side of this page.

Background information

Read the article in CODART’s eZine about the Szépművészeti Múzeum in Budapest and its collection of Dutch Old Master paintings

Read more about the exhibition Rembrandt and the Dutch Golden Age


Video of the Szépművészeti Múzeum on the Rembrandt
exhibition and CODARTfocus in Budapest (in Hungarian
and partly in English, made by Johanna Rieger)

Video of Gary Schwartz on the Rembrandt Exhibition in the
Szépművészeti Múzeum, filmed during the CODARTfocus in
Budapest (Video by Johanna Rieger, the second part is
available on YouTube).