Simon de Vlieger, Estuary at Day's End, c. 1640/1645, oil on panel, Patrons’ Permanent Fund and The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund in memory of Kathrine Dulin Folger, 1997.101.1.
Washington, DC—From majestic seascapes and expansive landscapes to lively genre scenes and rich still lifes, Dutch and Flemish paintings of the 1600s reveal the ways art helped the young Dutch Republic define a collective cultural identity. On view from October 17, 2021, through February 27, 2022, Clouds, Ice, and Bounty: The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund Collection of Seventeenth-Century Dutch and Flemish Paintings presents 27 paintings acquired by the National Gallery of Art through the generosity of the Lee and Juliet Folger Fund over the past 25 years, plus one painting from Lee and Juliet Folger's personal collection.
Jacob van Walscapelle, Still Life with Fruit, 1675, oil on panel, Juliet and Lee Folger/The Folger Fund, 2001.71.1.
Outstanding works by artists such as Salomon van Ruysdael and Clara Peeters, along with recent acquisitions by Jan Brueghel the Elder and Dirck Hals, fill the West Building's Dutch and Flemish Cabinet Galleries. The construction of these galleries in 1995 was also supported by the Lee and Juliet Folger Fund. This suite of spaces, newly refurbished for the exhibition, emulates the domestic environments for which many of the works were originally created, providing viewers with a uniquely intimate viewing experience.
Adriaen Coorte, Still Life with Asparagus and Red Currants, 1696, oil on canvas, The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, 2002.122.1.
"The National Gallery's collection of Dutch and Flemish paintings—one of the finest outside the Netherlands—owes much to the Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, which for more than two decades has generously supported the acquisition of exceptional works by artists at the height of their talents. Clouds, Ice, and Bounty offers visitors new ways to understand these highlights of our collection and provides a first glimpse of several new additions," said Kaywin Feldman, director of the National Gallery of Art.
Godefridus Schalcken, Woman Weaving a Crown of Flowers, c. 1675/1680, oil on panel, The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, 2005.26.1.
Clouds, Ice, and Bounty features a broad range of landscapes, seascapes, genre scenes, portraits, and still lifes produced by Dutch and Flemish painters during the 1600s. The paintings represent the prosperity and progress enjoyed by the Dutch Republic and the neighboring province of Flanders during the period. However, the exhibition acknowledges that artists carefully selected what to depict of their time, typically avoiding the darker sides of progress. The Dutch and Flemish also experienced near-constant war, religious strife, sickness, poverty, and famine, and beyond their borders the Republic participated in the transatlantic slave trade and colonization. Throughout the exhibition, information about the paintings' historical contexts demonstrates how the compositions blend reality and fiction, revealing the values of the artists that made them, the patrons that commissioned them, and the collectors that cherished them.
Frans Snyders, Still Life with Grapes and Game, c. 1630, oil on panel, Gift of The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund in Honor of the Twentieth Anniversary of the Circle of the National Gallery of Art, 2006.22.1.
Jan van Goyen's Ice Scene near a Wooden Observation Tower (1646) was undoubtedly painted in the artist's studio, but the close study of architectural details and masterful rendering of atmospheric effects indicate the artist's familiarity with this chill and blustery setting. The scene depicts one of the many waterways that were essential to both transport and recreation in the Low Countries. The various messages of genre scenes are illustrated in works like Jacob Ochtervelt's A Nurse and a Child in an Elegant Foyer (1663), which emphasizes the virtue of charity. Others, such as Philips Wouwerman's elegantly detailed The Departure for the Hunt (c. 1665/1668), appear to reflect the wealth—or aspirations of wealth—of their original owners. The exhibition's range of still lifes includes small-scale compositions like Still Life with Flowers Surrounded by Insects and a Snail (c. 1610) by Clara Peeters, one of the few women painters known to have been working professionally in the Low Countries in the early 1600s. Made while she was still in her teens, the painting's precise detailing suggests that Peeters studied the flowers and insects from life. Pieter Claesz's grand and vividly colored Still Life with Peacock Pie (1627) would have been admired by 17th-century viewers for the artist's skill in recreating the textures of the different objects and for the immense luxury and abundance those objects represented.
Cornelis van Poelenburch, Christ Carrying the Cross, early 1620s, oil on copper, The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, 2007.49.1.
Clouds, Ice, and Bounty includes several paintings that were acquired in the past year, some of which will be on view for the first time as a result of the National Gallery's temporary closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. These include Jan Brueghel the Elder's Wooded Landscape with Travelers (1610), a fictionalized view of farmers, herdsmen, and others crossing paths on a road through the woods. On public view for just one day before the museum's closure in March 2020, Dirck Hals's brightly colored Merry Company on a Terrace (1625) is the first painting by the artist to enter the National Gallery's collection. The merry company—a popular subject depicting carefree young men and women—shows the influence of the artist's older brother, Frans Hals, in its animated brushwork. Also acquired in 2020, Adriaen Coorte's Still Life with a Hanging Bunch of Grapes, Two Medlars, and a Butterfly (1687) is striking in its stark simplicity. The painting is the second work by Coorte to enter the National Gallery's collection. It will be installed alongside the artist's Still Life with Asparagus and Red Currants (1696), which was acquired in 2002.
John Ward of Hull, The Northern Whale Fishery: The "Swan" and "Isabella", c. 1840, oil on canvas, The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, 2007.114.1.
The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington.
The exhibition is curated by Marjorie E. Wieseman, curator and head of the department of northern European paintings, National Gallery of Art.
National Gallery of Art, October 17, 2021–February 27, 2022
Salomon van Ruysdael, River Landscape with Ferry, 1649, oil on canvas, Patrons' Permanent Fund and The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund. This acquisition was made possible through the generosity of the family of Jacques Goudstikker, in his memory., 2007.116.1.
Adam van Breen, Skating on the Frozen Amstel River, 1611, oil on panel, The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, in honor of Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr., 2010.20.1.
Reinier Nooms, called Zeeman, Amsterdam Harbor Scene, c. 1654/1655, oil on canvas, The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, 2011.3.1.
Thomas de Keyser, Portrait of a Gentleman Wearing a Fancy Ruff, 1627, oil on copper, The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, 2012.12.1.
Jacob van Hulsdonck, Wild Strawberries and a Carnation in a Wan-Li Bowl, c. 1620, oil on copper, The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, 2013.1.1.
Pieter Claesz, Still Life with Peacock Pie, 1627, oil on panel, The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund , 2013.141.1.
Jan van Goyen, Ice Scene near a Wooden Observation Tower, 1646, oil on panel, The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, 2014.35.1.
Jan Miense Molenaer, Self-Portrait as a Lute Player, c. 1637/1638, oil on panel, The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, 2015.20.1.
Jacob Ochtervelt, A Nurse and a Child in an Elegant Foyer, 1663, oil on canvas, The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, 2015.68.1.
Frans van Mieris, A Soldier Smoking a Pipe, c. 1657/1658, oil on panel, The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, 2016.10.1.
Caspar Netscher, A Woman Feeding a Parrot, with a Page, 1666, oil on panel, The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, 2016.118.1.
Herman Saftleven, Imaginary River Landscape, 1670, oil on panel, The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, 2016.147.1.
Jacob van Ruisdael, Dunes by the Sea, 1648, oil on panel, The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, 2017.55.1.
Willem van de Velde the Younger, An English Warship Firing a Salute, 1673, oil on canvas, The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, 2018.10.1.
Clara Peeters, Still Life with Flowers Surrounded by Insects and a Snail, c. 1610, oil on copper, The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, 2018.144.1.
Philips Wouwerman, The Departure for the Hunt, c. 1665/1668, oil on panel, The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, in honor of Earl A. Powell III, Director of the National Gallery of Art (1992-2019), 2019.2.1.
Jan Jansz van de Velde III, Still Life with Stoneware Jug and Pipe, mid 1650s, oil on panel, The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, 2019.13.1.
Dirck Hals, Merry Company on a Terrace, 1625, oil on panel, The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, 2020.11.1.
Adriaen Coorte, Still Life with a Hanging Bunch of Grapes, Two Medlars, and a Butterfly, 1687, oil on canvas, The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, 2020.16.1.
Jan Brueghel the Elder, Wooded Landscape with Travelers, 1610, oil on panel, The Lee and Juliet Folger Fund, 2020.26.1.
October 17, 2021 – February 27, 2022
