From the museum website, 4 March 2009
This exhibition, organized by the Vancouver Art Gallery in collaboration with the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, will highlight the extraordinary works of art made by Dutch masters of the 17th century, a period known as the Golden Age of the Netherlands. During this time the emerging Dutch Republic quickly reached unprecedented economic, political and cultural heights and saw a brilliant flowering of artistic talent.
The exhibition will feature major paintings and drawings by all of the celebrated masters of the period such as Aelbert Cuyp, Gerard Dou, Franz Hals, Rembrandt van Rijn, Jacob van Ruisdael, Gerard ter Borch and Johannes Vermeer, as well as an extraordinary selection of decorative arts, including furniture, silver, glassware, porcelain and textiles. Providing an overview of the fascinating political, economic and social forces that shaped the 17th century, the exhibition will allow the visitor to view these paintings in the rich context in which they were made. Works in the exhibition are from the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam, which has the finest collection of 17th century Dutch art in the world.
From the museum press release, 4 March 2009
Vermeer, Rembrandt and the Golden Age of Dutch Art is divided into eight sections: Maritime Power, The Artist and His World, Still Life, The City, The Dutch Landscape, Travelling Artists, Portraiture and Scenes of Everyday Life, each revealing intriguing details about life in the burgeoning Republic. In these works, visitors will see a society fascinated with exploring its new success. Interior scenes and portraits by Gerard ter Borch, Frans Hals and others capture details of lavish clothing, jewellery, decorative objects and architectural interiors, conveying the wealth and sophistication of their patrons. Artists such as Karel du Jardin and Johannes Vermeer depict their well-appointed studios or created portraits of other artists or self-portraits reflecting the new rise in status of the artist in Dutch society. Genre painters such as Jan Steen and Pieter de Hooch created minutely detailed scenes of daily life, including humorous and moralizing scenes of children’s games or peasants drinking and dancing. Painters including Willem Claesz Heda and Aelbert Cuyp portrayed intricate still-life compositions symbolizing the abundance and the brevity of life, and landscapes depicting the Dutch countryside and the prosperity of its new urban centres.
Publication
Vermeer, Rembrandt and the Golden Age of Dutch art: masterpieces from the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Ruud Priem, with contributions by Peter Sigmond, Marijn Schapelhouman, Reinier Baarsen and Ebeltje Hartkamp-Jonxis
Catalogue of an exhibition held in 2009 in Vancouver (Vancouver Art Gallery)
240 pp., 27,9 x 22.9 cm., 200 colour photographs, paperbound
Vancouver/Toronto (Douglas & McIntyre) 2009
ISBN-13 978-1-55365-471-1