From the museum website, 17 August 2015
The Kunsthaus already possesses important holdings of 17th century Dutch art, in the form of the Koetser and Ruzicka collections. For this exhibition, these are joined by 40 precious Dutch paintings from a private collection in Zurich that have rarely been shown before. Most are small-format cabinet pieces of exquisite quality, their remarkable compositions and spectacular detail as captivating to present-day audiences as they have ever been. They include cheerful genre scenes, magnificent still lifes and landscapes by outstanding representatives of Dutch painting such as Hendrick Avercamp, Jan Brueghel the Elder, Adriaen Coorte, Jan van Goyen and Aert van der Neer.
The collection’s exacting standards are also reflected in the fact that almost all of the pictures are signed, an indication of the way in which Dutch artists of the time saw themselves: they were the first to produce works to this extent for a broad market and develop a high degree of specialization in a variety of genres outside religious art.
Supported by the Athene Stiftung and the Truus & Gerrit van Riemsdijk Stiftung.