Organizers
Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam
Dutch Postgraduate School for Art History
Coordinators
Peter van der Coelen, Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Ger Luijten, head of the print room of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Ruud Priem, Dutch Postgraduate School for Art History
Information of the coordinators
On occasion of the exhibition Prints in the Golden Age: from art to shelf paper, which is on view from 21 January until 19 March 2006 at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, the symposium Prints and their use in the 16th and 17th century has been organized for Friday 17 March 2006 in collaboration with the Dutch Postgraduate School for Art History (OSK).
In the 17th century precious prints were carefully put away, just as in present times. However, by far the greater amount of graphic art was meant to be hung on the wall. Wealthier citizens possessed exclusive prints – printed on silk, beautifully coloured or in fine frames. Those who could not afford an expensive frame, simply stuck or pinned a print to the wall. Even cabinets, caskets and other everyday objects were adorned with prints. The exhibition offers for the first time a reconstruction of the use of printed images in daily life during the Golden Age. It shows the themes that were most frequently depicted in those days: from townscapes and war scenes to portraits of vicars and admirals, biblical stories and erotic subjects, flower still lifes, calendars and game boards. The exhibition, conceived by Jan van der Waals, was realized in collaboration with the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.