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The Williams College Museum of Art is considered to be one of the finest college or university art museums in the United States. It has an encyclopedic collection, numbering approximately 16,000 objects. The museum’s collection consists of examples of Dutch, Flemish, and Netherlandish art. Dutch art outnumbers Flemish and Netherlandish at 58 prints, eleven paintings, eight drawings, and three sculptures, with Flemish art represented by 27 prints, eight paintings, five sculptures, and two manuscripts. Netherlandish art is comprised of six prints and two paintings. Some notable paintings include Jan Weenix’s Dead Game and Fruits with Landscape, Frans Pourbus the Younger’s Portrait of Infanta Isabella Clara Eugenia, and pendant portraits of a man and a woman by Wybrand Simonsz. de Geest the Elder. Some significant works on paper are Rembrandt van Rijn’s etching with drypoint, Sleeping Puppy, and Hendrik Goltzius’ engraving of the Pietà and a drawing of The Agony in the Garden by Maarten de Vos. In addition, we have works by Pieter de Jode I, Cornelis Schut I, Cornelis Saftleven, Antoine Waterloo, Hercules Seghers, nineteen other works by Rembrandt, as well as small devotional sculpture in wood, ivory, and alabaster. The museum continues to acquire works both through purchase and as gifts.
Kevin M. Murphy, Eugénie Prendergast Senior Curator of American and European Art (January 2020)