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Thursday, December 18, 2008

Visual Art Only Months Away

Posted by Jen Graves on Thu, Dec 18, 2008 at 1:03 PM

In the Vancouver Art Gallery's news release this afternoon about its 2009 season, I only have eyes for this:

Vermeer, Rembrandt and the Golden Age of Dutch Art: Masterpieces from the Rijksmuseum

May 9 to September 13, 2009

Touring for the first time in North America, this landmark exhibition will present the extraordinary works of art made by Dutch Masters of the seventeenth-century, a period known as the Golden Age of Dutch Art. The largest and most significant collection of Dutch art from this period to be shown in Canada, the exhibition will feature major paintings and drawings by all of the celebrated masters, including Hals, Rembrandt, van Ruisdael, ter Borch and Vermeer. The exhibition incorporates a magnificent selection of decorative arts, including furniture, silver, glassware, porcelain and textiles. Providing an overview of the fascinating political, economic and social forces that shaped the 17th century, the exhibition will allow the visitor to view artworks in the rich context in which they were made. The exhibition is organized by the Vancouver Art Gallery in collaboration with the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

I bolded that last to prove that it's not just a traveling show; this is something the VAG put together.

I'm trying not to be disappointed in you, Seattle Art Museum, but it's hard. It's hard.

Comments (11) RSS

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Aren't we all something that the vag put together?

Posted by Matthew on December 18, 2008 at 1:11 PM

Ooo, it opens on my birthday. Perhaps a birthday trip is in order...

Posted by Abby on December 18, 2008 at 1:15 PM

I come from a family of art geeks who are fairly recent transplants to this Coast. We're scattered around the NW, and this might finally get us to do a family art trip, since the SAM hasn't inspired us to move our asses yet.

Posted by Art Starved on December 18, 2008 at 1:18 PM

Guess I'm taking a field trip to BC!

Posted by Jessica on December 18, 2008 at 1:32 PM

But Art Starved, SAM acquired a new Jeff Koons!!!!!!!!

Posted by j steezy on December 18, 2008 at 1:40 PM

I hear ya....

I'm making a trip to see WACK and Jeff Wall in Vancouver the weekend after Christmas.... can't wait.

Posted by boxofbirds on December 18, 2008 at 1:44 PM

Not a fan of SAM at all, but Vancouver isn't putting it together. It's a traveling show because the Rijks is closed for reconstruction right now.

I saw it at the Portland Art Museum when it was there: http://www.codart.nl/exhibitions/details…

That wouldn't have been to hard to check on the internets first.

Posted by ktli on December 18, 2008 at 1:56 PM

i'm going. and hoping they have t-shirts that say 'VAG'.

Posted by scary tyler moore on December 18, 2008 at 2:18 PM

Ooooh. You must have gotten a press release. I saw all the Vermeers when they were at the National Gallery in London a few years back. It won't be a hardship to go see them again.

Also, Jen - did you notice that the VAG will be doing a major contemporary show back-to-back with the SAM's contemporary show?

VAG: How Soon Is Now (Feb 7-May 3) - on contemp BC artists

SAM: Target Practice: Painting Under Attack 1949-1978 (June 25-Sept13) - on the shifting approaches to painting and the canvas (international survey)

Posted by arts&letters on December 18, 2008 at 2:53 PM

i'm so there.

the sad thing is that the VAG isn't even a museum. it's merely a gallery.

Posted by Max Solomon on December 18, 2008 at 3:31 PM

When I go to the museums in Vancouver, San Francisco, and L.A. (not to mention all the museums I went to in Europe 20 years ago) I realize how sad the state of art is in Seattle, at least in the way of world famous art.

Even the National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburg, Scotland has a better collection than SAM.

Posted by elswinger on December 18, 2008 at 4:09 PM