Fall and Rosh HaShanah Greetings: A New Art Season Begins in NY and CT

Abraham van Beyeren (1620/21-1690)

Banquet Still Life, oil on canvas, 118.2 x 167.6 cm

HOHENBUCHAU COLLECTION, on Permanent Loan to the LIECHTENSTEIN.

The Princely Collections, Vienna

Shanah Tovah (Happy New Year) to everyone, whether you celebrate the Jewish New Year or the Art New Year - or both.  Today we feel a sense of renewal as we breathe in the brisk autumnal air. Now is the time for new exhibitions, new educational opportunities and new arts in our annual festivals (DUMBO Arts Festival and New York Book Fair are this weekend).  The enormous march for Global Environmental Responsibility augurs well too.  Let us feel confident that this ground-swell of activism will bring forth real change for the good.

And with that in mind, let us begin our celebration with the Fall 2014 Art Season.   We have a cornucopia of exhibitions to choose from within the next four months: Matisse at MoMA,  Cézanne  and Cubism at the Met,  Chris Ofili at the New Museum and tons of gallery shows that are too numerous to mention here.

Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640)

Portrait of a Capuchin Monk, oil on panel, 53.3 x 45 cm

HOHENBUCHAU COLLECTION, on Permanent Loan to the LIECHTENSTEIN.

The Princely Collections, Vienna

As we await these October openings, we can rejoice in the Bruce Museum's Northern Baroque Splendor: The Hohenbuchau Collection from Liechtenstein, The Princely Collections, Vienna - on view now through April 12, 2015.   A selective assortment of 64 paintings from the Hohenbuchau Collection (which was amassed by Otto Christian and Renate Fassbender and is now on long-term loan to the Collections of the Prince of Liechtenstein in Vienna), it is deliciously rich and varied in subject matter.  Moreover, this exhibition provides an excellent opportunity to study important Dutch, Flemish and German works from the late 16th to the early 18th centuries by such well-known masters as Peter Paul Rubens, Gerard Dou, Frans Snyders, Jacob Jordaens, Aert de Gelder, Gerard Dou, and Jacob van Ruisdael, along with many, many more outstanding Northern European artists.

Jacob van Ruisdael (1628/29-1682)

A Waterfall in a Rocky Landscape, 

oil on canvas laid down on panel, 66 x 52 cm

HOHENBUCHAU COLLECTION, on Permanent Loan to the LIECHTENSTEIN.

The Princely Collections, Vienna

When we speak of various genres, we mean biblical and mythological  subjects (known as "history painting"), still lifes, landscapes, portraits and lively hunting scenes.  Here we marvel at the mastery of meticulous execution and evocative light. From the eerie hues of Mannerism to the hushed tones of late Dutch Baroque, each work captures the sense of an actual human experience.

Joachim Vtewael (1566-1638)

Venus and Adonis, oil on panel, 36 x 48 cm

HOHENBUCHAU COLLECTION, on Permanent Loan to the LIECHTENSTEIN.

The Princely Collections, Vienna

"Particularly unique to the collection are the number of individual paintings executed by more than one artist, working in collaboration.  Netherlandish artists tended to specialize, whether in figures, landscapes or still lifes, but they were not averse to collaboration," explained Dr. Peter C. Sutton, Executive Director of the Bruce and organizer of the exhibition.

Joos de Momper the Younger (1564-1635) and Jan Brueghel the Elder (1568-1625)

A Hermit Before a Grotto (A Mountainous Landscape with Pilgrams at a Chapel in a Grotto)

Oil on panel, 56 x 80 cm

HOHENBUCHAU COLLECTION, on Permanent Loan to the LIECHTENSTEIN.

The Princely Collections, Vienna

Serious devotees of the Northern Baroque art should also attend a special symposium of experts on Saturday, October 25th from 10 am to 4:30 pm, featuring Walther A. Liedtke from the Met; Arthur K. Wheelock, Jr., from the National Gallery in Washington; Christopher Brown from the Ashmolean Museum and Worcester College, University of Oxford; Frederik J. Duparc formerly from the Mauritshuis at the The Hague; and the Bruce Museum's own illustrious North Baroque scholar Dr. Peter C. Sutton.   Details are available on the museum's website.  Reservations and tickets are required.

Best wishes to you all for Fall 2014 Art Season and 5775 (according to the Jewish Calendar),
Beth New York

aka Beth S. Gersh-Nesic
Director
New York Arts Exchange
www.nyarts-exchange.com
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