Page 49 - EXPOTIME!Sept2017

New exhibitions

Aert van der Neer (1603 Gorinchem-1677 Amsterdam): Skating pleasures. Photo: Universalmuseum Joanneum

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encompasses art of the 19 cent. is expected to go to be looked at and interpreted at the same time. And so it
Museumscenter Leoben not far from Graz. is the big names that will be entering the collections of
the Alte Galerie: Pieter Claesz, a pioneer of modern still
The Permanent Loan life; Aert van der Neer, who redefined the night land-
scape subgenre for the Netherlands, will be represented
After the end of the 1648 War of Independence, the young here with a large winter landscape, as will Miense Mole-
Dutch Republic developed into one of the most prosper- naer and Josse de Momper, Adriaen van Ostade and Jan
ous and economically successful regions of Europe. The Steen, the main master of the moralising satirical genre.
political and confessional rift in the Netherlands had led They all have their firm place in European art history and
to a radical restructuring of society, in which the arts not in the great museums of the world.
only had to reorganise themselves, but also, as it were,
reinvent themselves. Soon, the mostly small-format pan- Thus the modern era items in the Alte Galerie located
el paintings were an export success, selling throughout in Schloss Eggenberg will receive a new face in some
Europe in hundreds of thousands, their attractions lying areas. The “great theatre of the world”, first staged in
less in baroque display of splendour and more in painter- Eggenberg in 2005, will now get new players. A relaunch
ly virtuosity and rich depth of thought. Lavish still lifes, of the Old Masters Collection will be on show in its new
which captured the wealth of the prospering middle layout from 2019 onwards.
class while also warning of the moral danger inherent in
such earthly temptations, atmospheric landscapes, and
seascapes with their heavily-laden ships, in which the
pride of the Dutch at the success of their overseas trade–
the foundation of their wealth–is clearly visible, all could
soon be found in every household. Opening hours

Human relations are also drastically depicted. This is 1 April to 29 October : Wedn-Sun and on holidays 10 am - 5 pm
shown in the genre painting with its preference for set- 1 November to Spring 2018: closed, open only within the frame
of a guided tour. For these tours, special appointments have
tings in taverns. This is not at all a reportage, but always to be made.
contains a moral message, which the painter indirectly T. +43-316/8017-9560
challenges his public to decode. Dutch pictures mean to info-eggenberg@museum-joanneum.at
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EXPOTIME!, issue August/September 2017