Museum press release, 14 January 2005
In the Barber Institute of Fine Arts of the University of Birmingham an exhibition is organized by prof. Richard Verdi from October 29, 2004 until January 23, 2005 showing oil paintings and etchings by the Dutch painter Bartholomeus Breenbergh (Deventer 1597 – Amsterdam 1657). This painter, hardly known in the Netherlands (only 3 of his paintings are in posession of Dutch museums), was a pupil of Pieter Lastman (like Rembrandt) and Jacob Pynas. From plm. 1619 till 1629 Breenbergh stayed in Italy, where he was a co-founder of the (in)famous Schildersbent, the club of Dutch painters in Rome. He acquired the nickname of ‘Het Fret’ (the ferret). There and later in Holland he specialized in Italian landscapes, often with biblical or mythological scenes.
The Bredius Museum takes over the oil paintings of this exhibition, plus some paintings and etchings from Dutch sources, showing it from February 12 till May 1st, 2005.
The Bredius Museum is the first in the Netherlands to exhibit this painter, something well suited to Abraham Bredius and the art historical researches that he did during his lifetime.
Catalogue
A catalogue, compiled by the Barber Institute, will be available in the Bredius Museum.