Two golden ages

Magazine Antiques, August, 2001 by Miriam Kramer

The so-called golden age of Dutch art took place in the seventeenth century. The names of its artists are well known even to those who are not particularly interested in the subject: Frans Hals, Pieter de Hooch, Jan Vermeer, and Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn. Less well known is the golden age of Danish art, in the first half of the nineteenth century, during which the artists were significantly influenced by their Dutch predecessors two centuries earlier. The landscapes and domestic interiors at which the Dutch excelled also appealed to the Danes.

Danish artists in the first half of the nineteenth century had access to large collections of Dutch art in Copenhagen as well as prints of paintings by the Dutch masters. In addition, Danish painters traveled to Italy and would have been able to see Dutch paintings as they passed through Germany. Some Danes even made their way via the Netherlands itself.

The relationship between the art produced during these two golden ages is explored in an exhibition on view at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam until September 16. Entitled Two Golden Ages: Masterpieces of Dutch and Danish Painting, it was organized jointly by the Rijksmuseum and the Statens Museum for Kunst in Copenhagen, where it was seen earlier this year.

The exhibition includes paintings by Gerard ter Borch, Jacob van Ruisdael, Hals, and de Hooch alongside famous works by the Danish masters Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg, Christen Kobke and Martinus Christian Wedseltoft Rorbye, which they inspired. The accompanying catalogue, published in Dutch, Danish, and English, may be ordered by telephoning the museum shop at 31-20-6747000 or through the museum's Web site (www.rijksmuseum.nl).