Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET)

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In Praise of Painting: Dutch Masterpieces at The Met

Dutch paintings of the seventeenth century—the Golden Age of Rembrandt, Hals, and Vermeer—have been a highlight of The Met collection since the Museum's founding purchase in 1871. This exhibition brings together some of the Museum's greatest paintings to present this remarkable chapter of art histor... [ + ]y in a new light. Through sixty-seven works of art organized thematically, In Praise of Painting orients visitors to key issues in seventeenth-century Dutch culture—from debates about religion and conspicuous consumption to painters' fascination with the domestic lives of women.

The exhibition provides a fresh perspective on the canon and parameters of the Dutch Golden Age by uniting paintings from Benjamin Altman's bequest, the Robert Lehman Collection, and the Jack and Belle Linsky Collection. Works typically displayed separately in the Museum's galleries—such as Rembrandt's Gerard de Lairesse and Lairesse's own Apollo and Aurora—are presented side by side, producing a visually compelling narrative about the tensions between realism and idealism during this period. The presentation also provides the opportunity to conserve and display rarely exhibited paintings, including Margareta Haverman's A Vase of Flowers—one of only two known paintings by the artist and the only painting by an early modern Dutch woman currently in The Met collection. The exhibition takes its title from one of the period's major works of art theory, Philips Angel's The Praise of Painting (1642), a pioneering defense of realism in art.

Over the course of eighty years of warfare, finally concluded in 1648, the northern provinces of the Netherlands achieved independence from Spain and established the Dutch Republic. In this officially Protestant state, artists could not rely on church or court commissions; instead, they developed a recognizably modern art market that encouraged experimentation and led to the emergence of new secular kinds of painting, such as landscape and still life.

Dutch paintings were among the first works purchased by The Met after its founding in 1870. Subsequent gifts and purchases built one of the world's great collections of Dutch art, focused on three towering figures: Rembrandt van Rijn, Frans Hals, and Johannes Vermeer. There are, of course, blind spots in the story these particular acquisitions tell. Colonialism, slavery, and war—major themes in seventeenth-century Dutch history—are scarcely visible here, and only one picture painted by an early modern Dutch woman has entered the collection over the course of nearly 150 years.

This exhibition presents The Met's fabled seventeenth-century Dutch paintings in a new light. Famous works appear in dialogue with others long kept in storage, and pictures usually shown in separate parts of the Museum—including paintings from the Robert Lehman Collection—are united in a thematic arrangement that emphasizes the controversies that animated the era.

In Praise of Painting: Dutch Masterpieces at The Met

Dutch paintings of the seventeenth century—the Golden Age of Rembrandt, Hals, and Vermeer—have been a highlight of The Met collection since the Museum's founding purchase in 1871. This exhibition brings together some of the Museum's greatest paintings to present this remarkable chapter of art histor... [ + ]y in a new light. Through sixty-seven works of art organized thematically, In Praise of Painting orients visitors to key issues in seventeenth-century Dutch culture—from debates about religion and conspicuous consumption to painters' fascination with the domestic lives of women.

The exhibition provides a fresh perspective on the canon and parameters of the Dutch Golden Age by uniting paintings from Benjamin Altman's bequest, the Robert Lehman Collection, and the Jack and Belle Linsky Collection. Works typically displayed separately in the Museum's galleries—such as Rembrandt's Gerard de Lairesse and Lairesse's own Apollo and Aurora—are presented side by side, producing a visually compelling narrative about the tensions between realism and idealism during this period. The presentation also provides the opportunity to conserve and display rarely exhibited paintings, including Margareta Haverman's A Vase of Flowers—one of only two known paintings by the artist and the only painting by an early modern Dutch woman currently in The Met collection. The exhibition takes its title from one of the period's major works of art theory, Philips Angel's The Praise of Painting (1642), a pioneering defense of realism in art.

Over the course of eighty years of warfare, finally concluded in 1648, the northern provinces of the Netherlands achieved independence from Spain and established the Dutch Republic. In this officially Protestant state, artists could not rely on church or court commissions; instead, they developed a recognizably modern art market that encouraged experimentation and led to the emergence of new secular kinds of painting, such as landscape and still life.

Dutch paintings were among the first works purchased by The Met after its founding in 1870. Subsequent gifts and purchases built one of the world's great collections of Dutch art, focused on three towering figures: Rembrandt van Rijn, Frans Hals, and Johannes Vermeer. There are, of course, blind spots in the story these particular acquisitions tell. Colonialism, slavery, and war—major themes in seventeenth-century Dutch history—are scarcely visible here, and only one picture painted by an early modern Dutch woman has entered the collection over the course of nearly 150 years.

This exhibition presents The Met's fabled seventeenth-century Dutch paintings in a new light. Famous works appear in dialogue with others long kept in storage, and pictures usually shown in separate parts of the Museum—including paintings from the Robert Lehman Collection—are united in a thematic arrangement that emphasizes the controversies that animated the era.

In Praise of Painting: Dutch Masterpieces at The Met

Dutch paintings of the seventeenth century—the Golden Age of Rembrandt, Hals, and Vermeer—have been a highlight of The Met collection since the Museum's founding purchase in 1871. This exhibition brings together some of the Museum's greatest paintings to present this remarkable chapter of art histor... [ + ]y in a new light. Through sixty-seven works of art organized thematically, In Praise of Painting orients visitors to key issues in seventeenth-century Dutch culture—from debates about religion and conspicuous consumption to painters' fascination with the domestic lives of women.

The exhibition provides a fresh perspective on the canon and parameters of the Dutch Golden Age by uniting paintings from Benjamin Altman's bequest, the Robert Lehman Collection, and the Jack and Belle Linsky Collection. Works typically displayed separately in the Museum's galleries—such as Rembrandt's Gerard de Lairesse and Lairesse's own Apollo and Aurora—are presented side by side, producing a visually compelling narrative about the tensions between realism and idealism during this period. The presentation also provides the opportunity to conserve and display rarely exhibited paintings, including Margareta Haverman's A Vase of Flowers—one of only two known paintings by the artist and the only painting by an early modern Dutch woman currently in The Met collection. The exhibition takes its title from one of the period's major works of art theory, Philips Angel's The Praise of Painting (1642), a pioneering defense of realism in art.

Over the course of eighty years of warfare, finally concluded in 1648, the northern provinces of the Netherlands achieved independence from Spain and established the Dutch Republic. In this officially Protestant state, artists could not rely on church or court commissions; instead, they developed a recognizably modern art market that encouraged experimentation and led to the emergence of new secular kinds of painting, such as landscape and still life.

Dutch paintings were among the first works purchased by The Met after its founding in 1870. Subsequent gifts and purchases built one of the world's great collections of Dutch art, focused on three towering figures: Rembrandt van Rijn, Frans Hals, and Johannes Vermeer. There are, of course, blind spots in the story these particular acquisitions tell. Colonialism, slavery, and war—major themes in seventeenth-century Dutch history—are scarcely visible here, and only one picture painted by an early modern Dutch woman has entered the collection over the course of nearly 150 years.

This exhibition presents The Met's fabled seventeenth-century Dutch paintings in a new light. Famous works appear in dialogue with others long kept in storage, and pictures usually shown in separate parts of the Museum—including paintings from the Robert Lehman Collection—are united in a thematic arrangement that emphasizes the controversies that animated the era.

In Praise of Painting: Dutch Masterpieces at The Met

Dutch paintings of the seventeenth century—the Golden Age of Rembrandt, Hals, and Vermeer—have been a highlight of The Met collection since the Museum's founding purchase in 1871. This exhibition brings together some of the Museum's greatest paintings to present this remarkable chapter of art histor... [ + ]y in a new light. Through sixty-seven works of art organized thematically, In Praise of Painting orients visitors to key issues in seventeenth-century Dutch culture—from debates about religion and conspicuous consumption to painters' fascination with the domestic lives of women.

The exhibition provides a fresh perspective on the canon and parameters of the Dutch Golden Age by uniting paintings from Benjamin Altman's bequest, the Robert Lehman Collection, and the Jack and Belle Linsky Collection. Works typically displayed separately in the Museum's galleries—such as Rembrandt's Gerard de Lairesse and Lairesse's own Apollo and Aurora—are presented side by side, producing a visually compelling narrative about the tensions between realism and idealism during this period. The presentation also provides the opportunity to conserve and display rarely exhibited paintings, including Margareta Haverman's A Vase of Flowers—one of only two known paintings by the artist and the only painting by an early modern Dutch woman currently in The Met collection. The exhibition takes its title from one of the period's major works of art theory, Philips Angel's The Praise of Painting (1642), a pioneering defense of realism in art.

Over the course of eighty years of warfare, finally concluded in 1648, the northern provinces of the Netherlands achieved independence from Spain and established the Dutch Republic. In this officially Protestant state, artists could not rely on church or court commissions; instead, they developed a recognizably modern art market that encouraged experimentation and led to the emergence of new secular kinds of painting, such as landscape and still life.

Dutch paintings were among the first works purchased by The Met after its founding in 1870. Subsequent gifts and purchases built one of the world's great collections of Dutch art, focused on three towering figures: Rembrandt van Rijn, Frans Hals, and Johannes Vermeer. There are, of course, blind spots in the story these particular acquisitions tell. Colonialism, slavery, and war—major themes in seventeenth-century Dutch history—are scarcely visible here, and only one picture painted by an early modern Dutch woman has entered the collection over the course of nearly 150 years.

This exhibition presents The Met's fabled seventeenth-century Dutch paintings in a new light. Famous works appear in dialogue with others long kept in storage, and pictures usually shown in separate parts of the Museum—including paintings from the Robert Lehman Collection—are united in a thematic arrangement that emphasizes the controversies that animated the era.

In Praise of Painting: Dutch Masterpieces at The Met

Dutch paintings of the seventeenth century—the Golden Age of Rembrandt, Hals, and Vermeer—have been a highlight of The Met collection since the Museum's founding purchase in 1871. This exhibition brings together some of the Museum's greatest paintings to present this remarkable chapter of art histor... [ + ]y in a new light. Through sixty-seven works of art organized thematically, In Praise of Painting orients visitors to key issues in seventeenth-century Dutch culture—from debates about religion and conspicuous consumption to painters' fascination with the domestic lives of women.

The exhibition provides a fresh perspective on the canon and parameters of the Dutch Golden Age by uniting paintings from Benjamin Altman's bequest, the Robert Lehman Collection, and the Jack and Belle Linsky Collection. Works typically displayed separately in the Museum's galleries—such as Rembrandt's Gerard de Lairesse and Lairesse's own Apollo and Aurora—are presented side by side, producing a visually compelling narrative about the tensions between realism and idealism during this period. The presentation also provides the opportunity to conserve and display rarely exhibited paintings, including Margareta Haverman's A Vase of Flowers—one of only two known paintings by the artist and the only painting by an early modern Dutch woman currently in The Met collection. The exhibition takes its title from one of the period's major works of art theory, Philips Angel's The Praise of Painting (1642), a pioneering defense of realism in art.

Over the course of eighty years of warfare, finally concluded in 1648, the northern provinces of the Netherlands achieved independence from Spain and established the Dutch Republic. In this officially Protestant state, artists could not rely on church or court commissions; instead, they developed a recognizably modern art market that encouraged experimentation and led to the emergence of new secular kinds of painting, such as landscape and still life.

Dutch paintings were among the first works purchased by The Met after its founding in 1870. Subsequent gifts and purchases built one of the world's great collections of Dutch art, focused on three towering figures: Rembrandt van Rijn, Frans Hals, and Johannes Vermeer. There are, of course, blind spots in the story these particular acquisitions tell. Colonialism, slavery, and war—major themes in seventeenth-century Dutch history—are scarcely visible here, and only one picture painted by an early modern Dutch woman has entered the collection over the course of nearly 150 years.

This exhibition presents The Met's fabled seventeenth-century Dutch paintings in a new light. Famous works appear in dialogue with others long kept in storage, and pictures usually shown in separate parts of the Museum—including paintings from the Robert Lehman Collection—are united in a thematic arrangement that emphasizes the controversies that animated the era.