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Following the example set by Aignan Thomas Desfriches, the eighteenth-century French artist and collector who was strongly influenced by Dutch masters of the seventeenth-century, collectors in Orléans developed a keen interest in Northern paintings. They built major art collections by strategically acquiring significant works through personal contacts and commercial channels, both within France and directly from the Netherlands.
When the museum opened in 1825 with a collection made up of gifts from local collectors, the majority of the Northern painting collection was already present, including works by Hendrik de Clerck, Guilliam van Deynum, Maerten Fransz. van der Hulst, Willem Romeyn, and Gerard Seghers. Over the past two centuries, the collection has continued to grow, notably through major gifts of paintings by artists such as Cornelis Bisschop, Anthony van Dyck, and Peter van Mol, as well as acquisitions of works by Jacob de Backer, Ferdinand Bol, Salomon de Bray, Jacob van Ruisdael, Gerard de Lairesse, Thomas Willeboirts Bosschaert, and Erasmus Quellinus (II).
Alongside its significant collection of Northern paintings, the Orléans museum also holds a lesser-known collection of approximately 900 Northern European drawings from the Renaissance to the nineteenth century. Among the Dutch and Flemish artists represented are Anthonie Blocklandt, Johannes Stradanus, Bartholomeus Spranger, Peter de Witte, Rubens, Jordaens, Goltzius, Jacques de Gheyn, Bartholomeus Breenbergh, Jacob Backer, Cornelis Bega, Pieter de Molijn, Joris van der Haagen, Cornelis Dusart, Jan Stolker, and Jacob Cats.
Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Orléans (April 2025)
Collection catalogues
Étoiles du Nord. Catalogue des dessins des écoles du Nord du musée des Beaux-Arts d’Orléans
David Mandrella
Paris 2024
De Dürer à Mantegna. Gravures Renaissance de la collection Leber
Bénédicte De Donker
Orléans 2010
Richelieu à Richelieu : Architecture et décors d’un château disparu
Orléans 2010
Guide des collections: Musée des Beaux-Arts d’Orléans
Klinka-Ballesteros, Isabelle, Bénédicte De Donker and Isabelle Roulleau
Clermont-Ferrand 2009
Mémoire du Nord: peintures flamandes et hollandaises des musées d’Orléans
Orléans 1998