On 1 December this year Prof. Dr. Rudi Ekkart retired from the RKD (Netherlands Institute for Art History). The Dordrechts Museum, in close collaboration with the RKD itself, hosts an exhibition in honor of the parting director. Ekkart is a prominent specialist in portraiture, therefore, not surprisingly, the exhibition deals with his beloved subject-matter, Dutch portraiture from the 16th-century until now.
The focus of the exhibition (and its accompanying catalogue) is the “portrait within the portrait”. This gives the opportunity for the visitor to discover some not very well known aspects of portraiture. Traditionally, studies on portraiture have tended to focus on the artist and the place of a portrait in his oeuvre. Only in the last decades portrait iconography received a growing interest in scholarly literature. That iconography is a main focus in this exhibition, particularly the iconography of a portrait depicted within a portrait.
Around 100 works, most of them on loan from other museums and private individuals, both from the Netherlands and abroad. They all gladly cooperated with this exclusive and unique exhibition. Work is shown by renowned and influential Dutch artists from the 16th century until now. Most of it constitutes of paintings, but some prints and sculpture will be shown as well.
Publication
A rich, heavily illustrated, 336 page catalogue will accompany the exhibition. It contains introductory essays by Sabine Craft-Giepmans, Annette de Vries, Constance Scholten and Paul van Kooij and entries of all the works in the exhibition by ca. 80 authors.
Portret in portret in de Nederlandse kunst: 1550 – 2012
Edited by Sabine Craft Giepmans and Annette de Vries
Catalogue of an exhibition held in the Dordrechts Museum in Dordrecht in 2012-13
Bussum (Thoth) 2012
ISBN 978 90 6868 613 5