On the occasion of the exhibition Frans Post. Animals in Brazil where 34 recently discovered animal drawings are on show for the first time, the Rijksmuseum is hosting a symposium on Tuesday 22 November 2016 from 12:30-18:00.
In the Noord-Hollands Archief, Haarlem, thirty-four completely unknown drawings by Frans Post (1612-1680) have been discovered. The 17th-century artist from Haarlem—who worked in Brazil between 1637 and 1644 in the entourage of Johan Maurits of Nassau-Siegen, governor of the Dutch colony there—is famous for the paintings of Brazilian landscapes that he produced after his return to the Netherlands. That the native flora and fauna depicted in these paintings must have been based on original drawings made in Brazil was always suspected. Until now, however, not a single animal or plant study from his hand was known.
Alexander de Bruin, curator of the image collection of the Noord-Hollands Archief, stumbled, to his utter amazement, upon the unrecognized studies—which include a white-lipped peccary, Brazilian porcupine, nine-banded armadillo, capybara, jaguar, and white-eared opossum—by accident in the course of a digitization project. The story of his sensational discovery will be published in the September issue of the international journal Master Drawings.
Symposium, 22 November 2016
The recent discovery calls for a new perspective on the work of Post himself and the collaboration and interaction within the group of artists that joined Johan Maurits as governor of the Dutch colony in Brazil in 1637.
- Jointly chaired by Jane Turner and leading Frans Post scholar Pedro Corrêa do Lago.
- Speeches by Alexander de Bruin, Frits Duparc, Quentin Buvelot, Kurt Wettengl, Katharina Schmidt-Loske, Oscar Hefting en Rebecca Parker Brienen.
For more information, please see the Program (PDF) or contact Eveline Sint Nicolaas: e.sintnicolaas@rijksmuseum.nl