For the first time ever, 18 pieces of art by Dutch artist Rembrandt van Rijn will be displayed together at the H’ART Museum in Amsterdam. The exhibition opening in April is in honour of the Dutch capital’s 750th birthday.
The highlight exhibition titled "From Rembrandt to Vermeer, Masterpieces of The Leiden Collection" will show aspects of daily life in Amsterdam during the 17th century. 75 works of art by 27 artists will be displayed, including those of Rembrandt, Johannes Vermeer, Frans Hals and Ferdinand Bol.
According to the museum, the artworks come from “one of the largest and most important private collections of Dutch 17th-century art in the world”: The Leiden Collection. Normally this private collection owned by Dr Thomas S. Kaplan and his wife Daphne Recanati Kaplan can’t be seen by the public but it will soon be on show in the H’ART Museum from April 9 to August 24 to celebrate the occasion of Amsterdam’s birthday.
Included in the exhibition are Rembrandt’s Self-Portrait with Eyes in Shadow and the Seated Virginal Player, which is the only Vermeer painting that is part of a private collection.
The stars of the show are 17 paintings and one drawing by Rembrandt, which are being shown together for the first time in public. Art lovers will get to see the portrayal of “ordinary Amsterdammers: young and old, beautiful and ugly” as Rembrandt painted everyday people from the streets of the Dutch city.
Several pieces of women will be put on view at the museum, from high society ladies and historical figures to businesswomen and those in everyday life. Even a painting by one of the few well-known female artists in the 17th century, Maria Schalcken will be shown.
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