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Delights of the Senses: Seventeenth-Century Dutch Art and Life, Featuring Paintings from the Leiden Collection
The Leiden Collection
Young Woman in a Niche with a Parrot and Cage
Gerrit Dou (Leiden 1613 – 1675 Leiden)
ca. 1660–65
oil on panel
24.8 x 18.4 cm
Wed, Sep 4 - Tue, Dec 31 2024
Albany Institute of History and Art, Albany, NY
This exhibition in partnership with The Leiden Collection, presents paintings and objects that examine seventeenth-century Dutch culture through the five senses.
The year 2024 marks the 400th anniversary of the founding of Fort Orange, the first permanent Dutch settlement that developed into the present-day city of Albany. To commemorate this milestone, the Albany Institute of History and Art has developed this exhibition centered around a partnership with The Leiden Collection, one of the preeminent private collections of seventeenth-century Dutch paintings in the United States.
In addition to twenty paintings from The Leiden Collection, Delights of the Senses will include several prints from the Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center at Vassar College, along with objects from First Church, Albany, Friends of Historic Kingston, Historic Huguenot Street, Historic Hudson Valley, the New York State Museum, and from the rich holdings of the Albany Institute.
The exhibition will present paintings and objects that examine seventeenth-century Dutch culture through the five senses. On view will be paintings of everyday life by Dutch artists such as Gerrit Dou (1613–1675), Jan Steen (1626–1679), and Gabriel Metsu (1629–1667) alongside objects similar to those in the paintings. Displayed together, these paintings and objects will invite viewers to imagine daily moments in an earlier time—whether it be an encounter with lively music, soft fur, a fragrant bouquet, or a hoppy glass of beer—as they were perceived not just through the eyes, but all the senses.
The Albany Institute is producing a 100-page, full-color illustrated exhibition catalogue written by the curator of The Leiden Collection and scholars of Dutch art and culture. An array of diverse, engaging programming for families, adults, and school groups will take place throughout the duration of the exhibition.