Birmingham Museum of Art Announces Exhibit Featuring Dutch Masters
By: Christina Mancuso Jan. 13, 2015
BIRMINGHAM, AL - The Birmingham Museum of Art will host an exhibition featuring works of the greatest masters of the Dutch and Flemish Golden Age titled, Small Treasures: Rembrandt, Vermeer, Hals, and Their Contemporaries. The exhibition, which was organized by the North Carolina Museum of Art and is sponsored by PNC, will be on view from January 30 - April 26, 2015.
Small Treasures brings together 40 small-scale oil paintings, most of which are no more than ten inches in height, by 28 artists who lived and worked in what is today the Netherlands and Belgium during the 17th century. These small paintings played an important part of many artists' practices but have historically been overlooked by scholars and museum exhibitions. The exhibition will, for the first time, explore this little known field and show the extraordinary richness of this genre of work. More than half of the works in the exhibition are drawn from private collections, some being on public view for the first time.
"During the Golden Age of Dutch and Flemish painting in the 17th century, artists demonstrated more than ever before their love for minute and precise detail by painting on a small scale. At the time, the incredible technical skills of these masters were highly revered and one can imagine the joy and wonder people felt when examining and exploring these precious gems. I believe modern audiences will be delighted to rediscover the charming details that lie within these works," says Robert Schindler, Curator of European Art at the Birmingham Museum of Art.
"We are so pleased to partner with the North Carolina Museum of Art, whose research and scholarship allows us to bring these marvelous paintings exclusively to the Southeast. To be able to offer, for example, two rare Vermeers, alongside delicate works from Rembrandt, Van Dyck, and many others, is a wonderful opportunity for our community. The Small Treasures exhibition will offer our visitors the chance to carefully admire the striking detail work by some of the most highly regarded artists of all time," says Gail Andrews, R. Hugh Daniel Director of the Birmingham Museum of Art.
Highlights of exhibition programs include:
Members Opening Night and Reception. Friday, January 30. 6-9PM. Free for BMA members, $25 for non-members. "Small Paintings, Big Party!" Light hors d'oeuvres, beer tasting, music, and cash bar.
First Thursdays: After Hours at the BMA. First Thursday of the month, 5-9PM.
- February 5, 7PM: Film screening of Tim's Vermeer
- March 5, 7PM: Annual Chenoweth Lecture, "Personal Encounters with Small Treasures" by Curator of Northern Baroque Painting at the National Gallery of Art Arthur Wheelock, Ph.D.
- April 2, 7PM: Lecture, "Small Treasures: From Idea to Exhibition" by Curator of Northern European Art at the North Carolina Museum of Art Dennis P. Weller, Ph.D.
Storyteller Dolores Hydock performance. Saturday, February 21. 3PM. $10 for BMA members, $20 for non-members (includes exhibition ticket). "It's the Little Things: Small Objects with a Big Effect on Life in the Golden Age."
"This important exhibition marks PNC's fourth opportunity to support the Birmingham Museum of Art, since coming to Alabama in 2012," said Brian Bucher, PNC Regional President. "We remain firmly committed to thoughtful collaborations that produce impactful arts and cultural programming, and the Birmingham Museum is a leader and placemaker in this effort. We are grateful for their vision and continued effort to bring globally significant works of art to the Magic City."
About the Birmingham Museum of Art: Founded in 1951, the Birmingham Museum of Art has one of the finest collections in the Southeast. More than 25,000 objects displayed and housed within the Museum represent a rich panorama of cultures, including Asian, European, American, African, Pre-Columbian, and Native American. Highlights include the Museum's collection of Asian art, Vietnamese ceramics, the Kress collection of Renaissance and Baroque paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts from the late 13th century to the 1750s, and the Museum's world-renowned collection of Wedgwood, the largest outside of England.
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