Class Distinctions Highlighted in Dutch Exhibition at Nelson-Atkins
Reflecting Class Marks First Vermeer Ever Seen in Kansas City
Kansas City, MO. Jan 26, 2015–The exhibition Reflecting Class in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer, open February 24 through May 29, 2016 at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, is the first to explore 17th-century Dutch painting through the lens of social class. It also represents the first time a painting by the celebrated artist Johannes Vermeer will be seen in Kansas City.
Artists featured include Rembrandt, Jan Steen, Frans Hals, Pieter de Hooch, Gerard ter Borch and Gerrit Dou, among others. Loans from Amsterdam, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Budapest, and London will complement the works coming from public and private collections in North America.
“The Nelson-Atkins is delighted to allow the first opportunity for many visitors in this region to see an original Vermeer,” said Julián Zugazagoitia, Menefee D. and Mary Louise Blackwell CEO & Director of the Nelson-Atkins. “This exhibition eloquently portrays the distinctions between classes and gives great insight into the social fabric of the culture. The study of 17th-century Dutch painting is rich in interpretive approaches, and the paintings in this exhibition illuminate the complex relationship between art and the society for which it was made.”
The exhibition was curated by Ronni Baer, the William and Ann Elfers Senior Curator of Paintings, Art of Europe, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA). The genesis for the show came from Ian Kennedy, a former curator at the Nelson-Atkins, who suggested a look at Dutch paintings organized by class – upper, middle and lower classes of society. He worked closely with Baer on the selection of paintings.
“Reflecting Class would not have happened if not for the vision and intellectual talent of Ian Kennedy,” Zugazagoitia said. “It is deeply rewarding to see this come to fruition, with his involvement, and now through our relationship with Ronni Baer and the MFA, to know that these Dutch masterpieces are coming to Kansas City.
Dutch culture flourished in the 17th century, which was a time of great economic growth, urban expansion, and migration to and within the Dutch Republic. But the era was also defined by great disparity in wealth. That cultural divide is reflected in the 71 paintings and 45 works of decorative arts in the exhibition. Reflecting Class in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer also explores the locations and circumstances that brought these groups together.
“Traditionally, Dutch society has been viewed as quintessentially middle class,” said Rima Girnius, Associate Curator of European Painting and specialist in the Early Modern German and Dutch art. “Unlike many of its neighbors, it was republic rather than an absolute monarchy and this allowed for a greater degree of religious freedom than permitted in other nations. But it is important to understand that the Dutch Republic was not a democracy in the modern sense of the word but an oligarchy governed by an exclusive group of wealthy merchants and noblemen. Like many other European nations, the population was socially stratified with an unequal distribution in wealth, prestige and power.”
The exhibition is divided into sections depicting the upper, middle, and lower classes. The first gallery highlights the political and social elite–princes, nobles, regents and merchants. The second gallery presents the broadest segment of Dutch society, the middle classes. These paintings show artisans at work, trained professionals and shopkeepers. Members of the lowest classes, who had only their labor to sell, are the subject of the third gallery. The final room explores the opportunities for these classes to meet.
“All of the issues addressed in this exhibition raise important questions about American society and culture,” said Girnius. “Parallels can and have been drawn between contemporary American and Dutch 17th-century society, such as the notion of upward mobility, the emphasis on commodities and consumer culture, and the absence, or in the case of the Netherlands, the relative paucity of an aristocracy.”
Although the paintings are astonishingly lifelike, they mask as much as they reveal by communicating the attitudes and aspirations of specific members of society. Visitors are encouraged to study the paintings, looking for clues in how the people carry themselves, what they are wearing, and whether they are working or idle.
The exhibition, which opened to critical acclaim at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, was declared by the Wall Street Journal to be a “splendid” and “altogether outstanding exhibition.” The New York Times commended the “prodigious show” for “its eye-opening array of paintings,” and the Financial Times called it “an addictive show with all the materialistic obsessiveness of an artistic Downton Abbey.”
Visitors can also stop by and see Dutch Masters in the Nelson-Atkins permanent collection. Rembrandt’s Young Man in a Black Beret is on view, as well as paintings by Frans Hals and Gerrit Dou, two artists who are represented in the exhibition.
The following events are scheduled in conjunction with Reflecting Class in the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer.
Special Presentations
Reflecting On…
Thursdays, 6–7 p.m.
Atkins Auditorium
February 25–Reflecting On the Power of Dutch Maps and Landscapes
March 31–Reflecting on Rembrandt and Vermeer in 19th-Century France
April 28–Reflecting on 17th-Century Dutch Influence on American Scenes of Everyday Life
May 26–Reflecting on Poverty in Early 20th-Century American Photography
Performance
Musical Distinctions from the Age of Rembrandt and Vermeer
Friday, March 18
6:30–7:30 p.m.
Atkins Auditorium
Lectures
Crossfire Talks: The Social Classes in Dutch Art
Sundays, 2 p.m.
Galleries L13-L15
Exhibition ticket required
March 20–The Upper Classes in Dutch Art
April 17–The Middle Classes in Dutch Art
May 15–The Lower Classes in Dutch Art
Rising Up: Clips and Conversation
Friday, November 13
6:30–7:30 p.m.
Atkins Auditorium
Image captions: Johannes Vermeer, Dutch (1632–1675). A Lady Writing, about 1665. Oil on canvas, Overall: 17 11/16 x 15 11/16 inches. National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of Harry Waldron Havemeyer and Horace Havemeyer, Jr., in memory of their father, Horace Havemeyer.
Job Adriaensz. Berckheyde, Dutch (1630-1693). The Baker, about 1681. Oil on canvas, 24 15/16 x 20 7/8 inches (63.3 x 53 cm). Worcester Art Museum (MA), Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Milton P. Higgins, 1975.105. Image © Worcester Art Museum
This exhibition was organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
In Kansas City, the exhibition is presented at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art by the Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation, with major support provided by the Committee of 100, G. Kenneth and Ann Baum, Shirley and Barnett C. Helzberg, Jr., the Karbank Family, Paul DeBruce, the Sosland Foundation, the Barton P. and Mary D. Cohen Charitable Trust, Henry W. Bloch, Bill and Peggy Lyons, the Atterbury Family Foundation, the Barton & Phyllis Cohen Charitable Foundation, the Arvin Gottlieb Foundation, UMB Bank, n.a., Trustee, Bill and Christy Gautreaux, JE Dunn Construction, Neil D. Karbank, the William T. Kemper Foundation, Commerce Bank, Trustee, Liz and Greg Maday, SpecChem, Teresa Meagher and Brad Manson, the Richard J. Stern Foundation for the Arts, Commerce Bank, Trustee, James and Elizabeth Tinsman, the Elizabeth C. Bonner Charitable Trust, the Campbell-Calvin Fund, H&R Block, the Donald J. Hall Initiative and our Honorary Committee.
The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and Humanities.
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
The Nelson-Atkins in Kansas City is recognized nationally and internationally as one of America’s finest art museums. The Nelson-Atkins serves the community by providing access and insight into its renowned collection of more than 35,000 art objects and is best known for its Asian art, European and American paintings, photography, modern sculpture, and new American Indian and Egyptian galleries. Housing a major art research library and the Ford Learning Center, the Museum is a key educational resource for the region. The institution-wide transformation of the Nelson-Atkins has included the 165,000-square-foot Bloch Building expansion and renovation of the original 1933 Nelson-Atkins Building.
The Nelson-Atkins is located at 45th and Oak Streets, Kansas City, MO. Hours are Wednesday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Thursday/Friday, 10 a.m.–9 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Admission to the museum is free to everyone. For museum information, phone 816.751.1ART (1278) or visit nelson-atkins.org/.
For media interested in receiving further information, please contact:
Kathleen Leighton, Manager, Media Relations and Video Production
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
816.751.1321
Kathleen Leighton
Manager, Media Relations and Video Production
The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
4525 Oak St.
Kansas City MO 64111
816.751.1321
Media cell 816.582.8753