Art and Competition in the Dutch Golden Age: Erasmus Lectures on the History and Civilization of the Netherlands and Flanders—Part 1

Date: 

Friday, February 22, 2019, 4:00pm to 5:00pm

Location: 

Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy Street Cambridge MA

In collaboration with the Department of History of Art and Architecture at Harvard, the Harvard Art Museums present Art and Competition in the Dutch Golden Age, a three-part lecture series delivered by Eric Jan Sluijter, professor emeritus at the University of Amsterdam and the 2019 Erasmus Lecturer in Harvard’s Department of History of Art and Architecture.

About this program:
“Here is the stock exchange and the money, and the love of art”—On the Value of History Paintings in Rembrandt’s Amsterdam

In the 17th century, Amsterdam’s booming art market saw explosive growth and diversification in the kinds of paintings that were produced—in terms of subject matter, format, style, and technique—and in the ways these works were marketed. Artists’ reputations and the prices each painter could ask also began to diverge dramatically. This lecture will focus on Rembrandt, who occupied an exceptional place among his peers in Amsterdam’s art scene. Eric Jan Sluijter will demonstrate how, in this environment, Rembrandt and his fellow history painters (who produced depictions of biblical, mythological, and other historical and literary scenes) acquired fame and handled the financial value of their work. 

The lecture will take place in Menschel Hall, Lower Level. Please enter the museums via the entrance on Broadway. Doors will open at 3:30pm.

Free admission, but seating is limited. Tickets will be distributed beginning at 3:30pm at the Broadway entrance. One ticket per person.

After the lecture, guests are invited to visit our 17th-century Dutch galleries until 6pm.

Complimentary parking available in the Broadway Garage, 7 Felton Street, Cambridge.

The 2019 Erasmus Lectures are presented at the Harvard Art Museums in collaboration with the Department of History of Art and Architecture at Harvard. Please join us for Part 2 of the series on Friday, March 1, and Part 3 on Friday, March 8.

The Erasmus Lectureship on the History and Civilization of the Netherlands and Flanders invites lecturers to spend a semester in any department of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University. The lectureship was endowed in 1967 by donations from individuals and businesses in the Netherlands and from Dutch expatriates in the United States. In 1994, the endowment was enlarged by a donation from the Government of Flanders.

 

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