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The artistic version of double Dutch is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art with two concurrent exhibitions of Dutch and Flemish art. "Jacob van Ruisdael: Dutch Master of Landscape" runs through Feb. 5 and a complementary exhibition, "A Natural Attraction: Dutch and Flemish Landscape Prints from Bruegel to Rembrandt" will be on display through Feb. 12.
The Ruisdael show is an ambitious retrospective with some 47 paintings, 30 drawings and all 13 of the artist’s rare etchings. The works come from around the world including the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, the Louvre in Paris, the Dresden Art Gallery in Dresden, Germany, and National Gallery of Ireland in Dublin. The Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Royal Academy of Arts in London and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art jointly organized the exhibition.
The Natural Attraction exhibit comprises prints from the Netherlands from the 16th and 17th centuries when landscape as a subject of art itself, rather than just as background, emerged. Taken entirely from the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s collection and curated by Stacy Kirk and John Ittman of the print department, the show is highlighted by seven etchings by Rembrandt. Known largely as a painter of portraits and Biblical scenes, Rembrandt Harmensz van Rijn (1606-1669) was equally adept as a print maker. He managed, as these pieces show to good effect, a huge range of nuance in his landscapes, yielding only the etching needle.
The Ruisdael exhibition is for landscape lovers and the American art fan. Much of the clarity, detail, sublimeness and reverence for the vastness of nature seen in early American landscapes were first seen with Ruisdael and his "northern" colleagues, all of whom influenced the American landscapist.
Ruisdael (1629-1682) was born in Haarlem where his father was a framer and printer. He was apprenticed to his painter-uncle, and, in his late 30s, moved to Amsterdam, where he earned a modest living from commissions. Possibly his accuracy of detail came from this situation where a wealthy patron would want to recognize what he paid for. Botanists and meteorologists have Ruisdael to thank for aiding their fields. Botanists can identify trees and plants by species, given the detail Ruisdael provided. Meteorologists can determine seasons and the weather based on Ruisdael’s renditions of clouds.
The exhibition was organized with the collaboration of Seymour Slive, a Harvard art professor and Dutch art expert, especially on Ruisdael, Rembrandt and Frans Hals. Slive is also the author of the exhibition catalogue, which looks at the work and influence Ruisdael had on his successors.
Natural Attraction shows the evolution of landscapes in several ways. Firstly, landscapes could achieve a high spiritual quality by demonstrating the power and wonder of a world that had been created for the use of man and the glory of God. Secondly, landscapes had a practical side. Landscapes from travelers gave those who stayed at home a view of the world that would never have been possible in the two hundred-year period under examination. The prints show Italian ruins, alpine vistas, flat Dutch countryside and dramatic stormy nights.
In additional to the Rembrandts, the show features works by Pieter Bruegel-often known as Pieter Bruegel the Elder-van Leyden, Goltzius, Peter Paul Rubens and Ruisdael.
Early in the 17th century, the Netherlands had finally ended its wars with Spain and began to develop its own vision as a nation. Thus, the merchant classes were eager for works of art to demonstrate to themselves and others their good fortune, and, no doubt, their moral superiority. Ruisdael’s work was another way to showcase the country to itself. And no one could claim the images were imaginary since all one had to do was visit the scene and see for himself that Ruisdael had captured it accurately. Not only could Ruisdael capture details correctly, but he could transform a scene to give it more evocative qualities, make it more dramatic or even heighten the grandeur of the landscape.
Lloyd De Witt, a museum curator who coordinated the show for the Philadelphia Museum of Art, also had an interesting observation. "We lose sight of how dramatic subjects were in his day … it’s noteworthy that certain other subjects like the windmills and the waterfalls that today seem so typical, were fresh and new when Ruisdael introduced them as subjects"
Finally, it should be noted, Philadelphia doesn’t often get to see exhibitions of "northern" art. Now there is the Munch "Mermaid" and these two Dutch shows. Our normal menu in terms of major exhibitions is mostly Italian, French or Spanish. Much of the artwork displayed in smaller installations is exotic and wonderful, but it doesn’t get the attention it deserves. With these two concurrent Dutch and Flemish exhibits, the public can satiate its craving for "northern" art.
"Jacob van Ruisdael: Dutch Master of Landscape"
Through Feb. 5
"A Natural Attraction: Dutch and Flemish Landscape Prints from Bruegel to Rembrandt"
Feb. 12
Philadelphia Museum of Art
26th Street and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway
215-763-8100
www.philamuseum.org
Adults, $12; seniors 62 and older, $9; students with valid ID and ages 13 to 18, $8; ages 12 and younger, free; pay what you wish on Sundays.
