Frick Exhibition Considers Rembrandt Through the Eyes of Two Collectors

February 15, 2011, through May 15, 2011
Press Preview: Monday, February 14, 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
The Frick Collection, 1 East 70th Street, New York, NY 10021; RSVP: (212) 547-6844

In the century that has passed since the collectors Henry Clay Frick (1849-1919) and Frederik Johannes Lugt (1884-1970) began to acquire works by Rembrandt van Rijn, the world's view of the artist has changed dramatically. In the late nineteenth century the Dutch artist was perceived as an isolated and unrecognized genius, resistant to rules and increasingly withdrawn from society over time. Today he is generally viewed as an enormously ambitious artist whose extraordinary abilities and innovative style and technique brought him spectacular market success, international fame, and numerous followers during his lifetime.

This winter, Rembrandt's legacy is the subject of The Frick Collection's special exhibition Rembrandt and His School: Masterworks from the Frick and Lugt Collections, which will present a selection of paintings, prints, and drawings by the master and the diverse group of Dutch artists who constitute his school, among them Govert Flinck, Ferdinand Bol, Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, Carel Fabritius, Samuel van Hoogstraten, Nicolaes Maes, Philips Koninck, and Lambert Doomer. Together, these works represent the richness of the expansive body of work produced by Rembrandt and the individuals who sought him as a teacher or a figure for emulation. The ensemble, drawn from the collections formed by Frick and Lugt, also reflects the ways these men of different backgrounds, means, and aspirations as collectors responded to the notions of Rembrandt that prevailed during their lifetimes.

The exhibition, which is on view exclusively at the Frick, will occupy three spaces: the Oval Room, the Cabinet, and the lower-level galleries. As a whole, the show runs from February 15 through May 15, but the sixty-five drawings and etchings on loan from the Lugt Collection (as well as a single work from the Robert Lehman Wing of The Metropolitan Museum of Art) will remain on view through May 22. The exhibition is organized by Colin B. Bailey, the Frick's Associate Director and Peter Jay Sharp Chief Curator, in conjunction with Margaret Iacono, Assistant Curator, and Joanna Sheers, Curatorial Assistant.

Principal funding is provided by The Christian Humann Foundation, Jean-Marie and Elizabeth Eveillard, and Melvin R. Seiden. Corporate support is provided by Fiduciary Trust Company International. The exhibition is also supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities. The catalogue is made possible by the Robert Lehman Foundation, Inc. It is also supported, in part, by public funds from the Netherlands Cultural Services and by the Netherland-America Foundation. Comments Colin B. Bailey, "This presentation is our second collaboration with the Fondation Custodia, which houses the collection of Frits Lugt. It follows the 2009 exhibition of his French eighteenth- and nineteenth-century drawings. Given that Lugt is best known as a scholar of Dutch drawings, we're thrilled to look at his Rembrandt school holdings alongside our own. Furthermore, in preparing for this project, we examined and treated our Rembrandt Self-Portrait, and the result is nothing short of a revelation. This masterpiece can now be seen in its original tonalities and nuanced brushwork and will return to the galleries this winter looking better than it has in decades."