MFA Boston Opens Center for Netherlandish Art and New Galleries of Dutch and Flemish Art

Tue, Apr 5 - Wed, Nov 20  2080

The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston has opened the Center for Netherlandish Art and their newly renovated galleries of Dutch and Flemish Art.

The opening celebrates the launch of the Center for Netherlandish Art (CNA), an innovative center for scholarship housed at the MFA and the first resource of its kind in the USA. The CNA was established with initial endowment funds from Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo and Susan and Matthew Weatherbie, given as part of a landmark 2017 gift that also included many of the paintings that will be on view in the new gallery.

Dutch and Flemish Art
A suite of seven renovated galleries at the MFA will employ up-to-date research to explore the nexus between art, commerce and science in the Dutch Republic and Flanders. Nearly 100 paintings by the greatest masters—including Rembrandt van Rijn, Peter Paul Rubens, Gerrit Dou, Frans Hals, and Anthony van Dyck—plus works on paper and decorative arts such as silver and Delft ceramics represent this rich visual culture. Organized thematically, the installation examines a variety of subjects: women artists and patrons; the growth of a modern art market; and the unexpected connection between still life paintings, the sugar trade and slavery. Among the many highlights are Rembrandt’s moving Portrait of Aeltje Uylenburgh, a Dutch doll’s house filled with nearly 200 miniature furnishings, and an early self-portrait by Van Dyck posing as Icarus, painted when the artist was just 19 years old.

Center for Netherlandish Art

The Center for Netherlandish Art (CNA) is an innovative research center for the study and appreciation of Dutch and Flemish art. Through an expansive library, a residency fellowship program, and an active slate of academic and public programs, the CNA shares Dutch and Flemish art with wide audiences in Boston and beyond; stimulates multidisciplinary research and object-based learning; nurtures future generations of scholars and curators in the field; and expands public appreciation of Netherlandish art—especially works from the 17th century.

In 2019, the Kingdom of The Netherlands has established a permanent endowment fund in support of the MFA’s Center for Netherlandish Art (CNA). The fund, named The Kingdom of the Netherlands Fund for Dutch Scholars, will allow Dutch academics, students and institutions to participate in CNA programs and research initiatives, sustaining international connections between scholars in both countries. Read more about the fund here.

See slideshow below.