The following request came to us from CODART-member Hilliard Goldfarb, Senior Curator -Collections at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts would be interested in being a venue for a major Dutch art exhibition in 2019 or 2020. Our own extensive Dutch (and Flemish) collection could complement the exhibition with included works. Exhibitions that incorporate multiple media are invited (for example paintings, prints, drawings, sculpture and decorative arts). We have temporary exhibition spaces that can accommodate between 10,000 – 12,000 square feet. The museum welcomes over one million visitors each year. If you have any thoughts or questions please contact Hilliard Goldfarb.
The collection
One of the strengths of the MMFA’s collection lies in their collection of about one hundred Dutch and Flemish seventeenth-century paintings, many of which have been exhibited internationally, which make the MMFA a significant repository of works from that Golden Age. These include paintings by Cornelis van Haarlem (2), Hendrick de Clerck (2), a magisterial panoramic mountain landscape by Joos de Momper (with figures by Jan Breugel the Elder) as well as an intimate winter scene by him, landscapes and cityscapes by Pieter Bruegel the Younger, Nicolaes Berchem, Jan Both (2), Ferdinand Bol (his only), Allart van Everdingen, Jan Hackaert (2), Jan Asselijn, Jan van der Heyden, Adam Pynacker, Jacob van Ruisdael (2), Hendrick Steenwijk, Cornelis Vroom (2), and Philips Wouwerman, works by Mathias Stom, Barent Fabritius, Godfried Schalcken, genre scenes by Jan Lievens, Quiringh van Brekelenkam, Pieter Codde, Jacob Duck, and David Teniers the Younger (2), and fine marine paintings by Jan van Goyen, Ludolf Backhuysen, Willem van de Velde the Younger, and Simon de Vlieger. Slightly earlier in date are exquisite pendant portraits by Pieter Pourbus. Still-life paintings include works by Pieter Claesz., Floris van Schooten, Paulus Bor, Jan Davidsz. de Heem, Pieter van Roestraten, Willem van Aelst, Osias Beert, Abraham van Beyeren, Frans Snyders, Jan Fyt, Christian Luycks (a large copper), while mythological subjects and religious scenes from both the Old and New Testaments include large works by Abraham Bloemaert, Bartholomeus Breenbergh, Cornelis van Poelenburgh, and Jan Steen, as well as paintings by Jan Breughel the Elder, Cornelis van Haarlem. The collection also embraces fine works by Rembrandt (a late portrait), Gerrit van Honthorst, Salomon de Bray (2), Emanuel de Witte, Nicolaes Maes (3), and Gerard Ter Borch, among others.