Information
The Leiden Collection, founded by Thomas S. Kaplan and Daphne Recanati Kaplan, is among the largest and most significant collections of seventeenth-century Dutch and Flemish art held in private hands. Comprising over 250 paintings and drawings, the Collection features the work of Rembrandt van Rijn, Jan Lievens, Frans Hals, Jan Steen, and Johannes Vermeer, among others. It demonstrates extraordinary depth and breadth in artists who were active in Leiden, including outstanding paintings by Leiden fijnschilders Gerrit Dou and Frans van Mieris.
At the core of the Collection are seventeen paintings and two drawings by Rembrandt, spanning the artist’s career, from his earliest works, Allegory of the Senses (ca. 1624–25), to the monumental Minerva in Her Study (1635), and Portrait of a Seated Woman with Her Hands Clasped (1660). Works by Rembrandt’s teacher, Pieter Lastman, and members of his workshop, including Isaac de Jouderville, Govaert Flinck, Ferdinand Bol, and Carel Fabritius enrich the representation of this broader artistic tradition. The Collection’s other great strength lies in Dutch genre painting with celebrated artists Gerard ter Borch, Caspar Netscher, and Gabriel Metsu.
The mission of The Leiden Collection is to share its artistic treasures with the public. Paintings and drawings have been lent to over seventy museums around the world, either for special focused exhibitions, supplementing permanent collections over a longer-term basis, or as part of the highlights exhibition tour. The works of art in The Leiden Collection are also made accessible through its online catalogue.
Caroline Van Cauwenberge, Curatorial Associate (June 2023)
Collection catalogues
The Leiden Collection Catalogue (third edition)
Edited by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr. and Lara Yeager-Crasselt
New York (www.theleidencollection.com/archive) 2020
The Leiden Collection Catalogue
Edited by Arthur K. Wheelock Jr.
New York (www.theleidencollection.com/archive) 2019