On 22 and 23 September 2022, a symposium will be held at the RKD – Netherlands Institute for Art History on the occasion of the launch of the richly annotated and illustrated digital English version of Horst Gerson’s chapter on Britain from his Ausbreitung und Nachwirkung der holländischen Malerei des 17. Jahrhunderts of 1942 (Dispersal and Legacy of Dutch Painting of the 17th Century). The event is jointly organized by the RKD and the embassy of the UK in the Netherlands, University of Amsterdam and Courtauld Institute of Art.
Before 1942, the study of Dutch art and artists in Britain was largely uncharted territory. In the last thirty years, research on early modern artists migration and cultural exchange between the Low Countries and Great Britain has progressed rapidly and in various directions. In particular, the Dutch and Flemish artists community in London and the careers of individual artists at the English and Scottish courts have received attention. The same goes for the collection history of Netherlandish art in the UK. The launch of the annotated and translated version of Gerson’s text marks the perfect occasion to rethink, discuss and contextualize his original findings with current knowledge.
At the symposium Close Encounters international experts from the UK, the United States, Germany and The Netherlands will present a range of papers that will draw attention to different aspects of this cultural exchange: artists’ and dealers’ travels and routes, artist’s education, networks, patronage, as well as styles and its implications for connoisseurship.
Tickets are available through the RKD webshop: € 30 regular / € 15 students
Program
Day 1 (22 September 2022)
9.45 – 10.30 Registration and Coffee
Welcome and Introduction
10.30 – 11.00
- Chris Stolwijk (General Director RKD), Welcome
- Lucy Ferguson (Deputy Ambassador of the UK in the Netherlands), Welcome
- Rieke van Leeuwen, Short Introduction to the Program
Session 1: Cross-Cultural Networks and Collaboration
11.00 – 12.30 (Chairs: Sander Karst & David Taylor)
- Adam White, Nicholas Stone the Elder (c. 1587-1647) and his Circle: Anglo-Netherlandish Inter-Action in Sculpture, Architecture and Painting
- Imogen Tedbury, The Van de Velde Studio at the Queen’s House
- Ada De Wit, Woodcarvers and their Anglo-Netherlandish Network: Grinling Gibbons and Laurens van der Meulen
12.30 – 13.30 Lunch break
Session 2: Thinking Differently about Cross-Cultural Exchange
13.30 – 15.15 (Chairs: Karen Hearn & Joanna Woodall)
- Gary Alabone, Leatherwork and Kwab: Influences between English and Netherlandish Picture Frames
- Flash Talk: Eleanor Stephenson, Copying the Cartouche: Cross-Cultural Exchanges in Dutch and English Cartography, 1658-1675
- Amy Lim, John van Collema: a Dutch India Merchant in London
- Ulrike Kern, Dutch Art Terminology in the British Workshop
15.15 – 15.45 Coffee/tea break
Session 3: 17th-Century Netherlandish Painters and Their Relations to British Patrons
15.45 – 17.45 (Chairs: Angela Jager & Joanna Woodall)
- Michele Fredericksen, Between two Courts: Gerrit van Honthorst and Stuart Patrons in London and The Hague
- Flash Talk: Rebekka Hoummady, A Kings Daughter in Exile: Diplomatic and Artistical Mediation between the Courts of Elizabeth Stuart and Charles I by Gerrit van Honthorst
- John Loughman, Samuel van Hoogstraten’s English Patrons
Launch of Gerson Digital : Britain
- Karen Hearn & Rieke van Leeuwen, Gerson Digital: UK, the Project
- Panel Discussion
Day 2 (23 September 2022)
9.30 – 10.00 Registration and Coffee
Session 4: Collecting and Art Trade
10.00 – 12.30 (Chairs: Angela Jager & David Taylor)
- Ellinoor Bergvelt, Helen Hillyard, Dutch Paintings for Everyone! A study of the Cartwright Collection at Dulwich Picture Gallery
- Sander Karst, Migration and Adaptation : Netherlandish Artists and the Art Market in Late 17th Century Britain
- Tico Seiffert, Collecting Rembrandt’s Art in Britain before 1700
- Kate Heard, George IV (1762-1830) as a Collector of Dutch and Flemish Prints and Drawings
Quentin Buvelot, British Connections in the Collection of the Mauritshuis
12.30 – 14.30 Lunch break – Opportunity to visit the Mauritshuis
Session 5 : Legacy of the Dutch Golden Age
14.30 – 16.30 (Chairs: Karen Hearn & Rieke van Leeuwen)
- Remmelt Daalder, ‘Whom no Age has equalll’d in Ship-painting.’ Willem van de Velde: World Famous in 18th Century England
- Rica Jones, Untangling the Tangled Evidence of Jan Griffier the Elder’s Descendants, and a Note on their Legacy in British Painting
- Rebecca Welkens, Thomas Worlidge, his Approach to Rembrandt’s Prints and the Construction of Concepts of Fame in England in the 18th Century
- Flash Talk: Quirine van de Meer Mohr, In the Wake of the Old Masters. The Migration of Dutch Modern Artists in early 19th Century Britain
16.30 – 18.00 Drinks
Program committee
- Rieke van Leeuwen (RKD)
- Angela Jager (RKD)
- Karen Hearn (Honorary Professor, University College London)
- Sander Karst (University of Amsterdam)
- David Taylor (Independent, previously National Trust and National Galleries Schotland)
- Joanna Woodall (Courtauld Institute of Art)
See the RKD website for more information.