CODART, Dutch and Flemish art in museums worldwide

The second Golden Age of Dutch art: paintings from the Beekhuis collection

Exhibition: 12 October - 13 December 2008

Museum information

The California collectors Dr. Jan & Mary Ann Beekhuis have amassed a quality collection of over 500 19th-century Dutch paintings over the past 20 years. They have shown some of their collection at the Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek, California, the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento and at the Holland Museum in Holland, Michigan. The Hearst Art Gallery is exhibiting 60 of their finest pieces.

The exhibition will feature a survey of a number of different artists and styles (Impressionism, Realism, Hague School, Romantics). Some of the artists borrow heavily from iconography of the 17th century and others depict their love for the modern cities, including construction and shipyards. Dutch artists produced millions of paintings during the period and collecting was popular with the growing middle
class (both in the Netherlands and with North Americans of Dutch extraction). The paintings illustrate a wide variety of subject matter including cityscapes, landscapes, seascapes, still life, portrait, church interiors, historic and allegorical.

Publications

The Hearst Art Gallery will produce a catalog as well as a documentary on Dr. Beekhuis and his collection.